Saturday was the final day of the NCS Team Championships.  It was held at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on an amazing weather day.  To say we were outgunned that morning in the semifinals would be an understatement.  SF University was clearly the top seed and dominated on all but two lines.  They showed up with their entire top 10 ready to play.  We were missing our #2 singles player and our #1 doubles player.  SF University also went on to defeat #2 Branson in the finals 6-1 and will represent the NCS in the Nor Cal Team Tournament next week.  The winner of that tournament will move on to CIF State.

Each line score against our Acalanes players is below and I’ll spend minimal time dissecting it because the closeness of the scores tells the story.  I will highlight our two closest matches – the first being junior #4 Hoeberechts who was pushed into singles as we were shorthanded.  He lost the first set 7-5 but put forth a valiant effort before going down in straight sets.  The points were long, and he and Chu pushed each other around the court.  You get an A for effort Kaya.  Our #1 doubles team including senior Brewer and junior Foster gave a good scare to University’s #1 duo and NCS Doubles Champions Linn/Boake.  The first set was the only one won by the Dons squad and it was a tiebreaker.  Linn/Boake came back to win the second set.  Before the tournament started, the coaches agreed that if the overall match was already determined, we would play a 10-point tiebreaker instead of playing out the third set.  As we were already down 5-0, Tucker and Sammy played the super breaker.  It was close early on and then University pulled away to win 10-6.  This was the first match Brewer played with Foster.  And as new partners, they did a great job.  And just like that, the season is over. 

I feel like and hope that I took enough opportunities to thank Coach Peter, our team parents, and our parent/family community for their tremendous support all season.  It certainly takes a village, and I know that the boys and coaches appreciate everything.  We have such a healthy, enthusiastic, and successful system in place, and I enjoy being part of it.  When the season started, we knew we had a tough road in front of us losing eight seniors last year; many of them were starters.  I wasn’t sure what to expect this year, but the boys outperformed any expectations I had of them.  They are a coachable hard-working bunch and they improved so much during the season.  We went 13-5 overall, reached the semis of the NCS Team Championships as the #4 seed, and took second place in the DAL-F.  We are losing six seniors, but four of our top six spots are returning players next year.  To my seniors – one last farewell to Tucker Brewer, Diego Ledezma, Will Lofting, Quincy Patterson, Ace Reeder, and Spencer Tantameng.   You will be missed next year.  You added so much talent, personality, and diversity to our team. You also left your legacy on the underclassmen, so we carry some traditions forward next year and maybe get creative with a few new ones.  Good luck with college and your future endeavors and stay in touch.  Happy Mother’s Day moms!! Signing off for the 2023/2024 season.  Go Dons!  Coach Rick