Today, Acalanes hosted the semifinals and finals of the DAL-Foothill Division singles and doubles tournament. Three of our boys were still in contention to take home a first-place medal. Though that ended up not happening, they made their school and coaches proud and put up a great fight in both singles and doubles.
The conditions were a little windy but the temperature was comfortable. All four semifinal matches started at the same time. Sophomore Peyton Eagens was seeded #4 and he had a tough opponent, #1-seeded Gavin Dille of Miramonte. Though many of the points were long and Peyton was in the match, the experience and shot making of Gavin was just a little too much, and he went on to win the match 6-1, 6-2. #2 Raihan Lele (Northgate) earned the other finals berth by defeating #3 Jonah Elias (Miramonte) 7-6 (5), 6-3. #1 Dille then went on to win the singles title by quickly dispatching #2 Lele 6-1, 6-0. #3 Elias and #4 Eagens played to determine third and fourth placings. Elias won the first set 6-3 and was up 5-3 in the second, but Eagens had a lot more gas in the tank. He went into lockdown mode and simply gave up nothing. Elias began making some unforced errors and began looking a little frustrated while Peyton continued keeping the pressure on. Peyton came back to win the second set 7-5 and then ran away in the super tiebreaker 10-3. He gets an A+ for perseverance and grit. He played a smart match and deserved the win.
Singles Results:
Champion: Gavin Dille – Miramonte (medal winner)
Second Place: Raihan Lele – Northgate (medal winner)
Third Place: Peyton Eagens – Acalanes
Fourth Place: Jonah Elias – Miramonte
On the upper courts, our #1 seeded Sze Ting Chen and Nick Owens were taking on the #4 seeds from Campolindo, Rex Pastore and Linus Wirstrom. This was a great match and could have easily passed for the finals. The level of tennis was extremely high; big serves, solid baseline games, sharp volleys and experienced doubles strategy. Rex and Linus pushed hard and gave Chen and Owens all they could handle, but in the end Acalanes edged it 7-6 (5), 6-4. In the other semifinal, #2 seeded Kiumars Koopah and Daniel Schpolanski of Campolindo quickly defeated #4 Charles Richtenburg and Raunav Agarwal of Miramonte 6-2, 6-2. In the consolation bracket, #4 Pastore/Wirstrom went on to take third place by defeating Richtenburg/Agarwal 6-3, 6-1. All four played a really good tournament and I hope they walked away with their heads held high.
This set up the highly anticipated finals match between the two top seeds. The tennis was entertaining, but we knew only one team could win. Campo’s Koopah/Schpolanski wasted no time jumping ahead of Chen/Owens winning the first set 6-3. It almost felt like we were watching a college match. All four boys were striking the ball with tremendous pace. There were several net exchanges with both teams getting their share of putaways, but the difference came down to serving and shot execution. Chen/Owens pulled out the second set 6-4 setting up a super tiebreaker showdown. Unfortunately for Acalanes, Kiumars and Daniel simply couldn’t miss. They upped their level, got ahead in the tiebreaker and never looked back winning 10-3. Though I know Chen/Owens were disappointed, coach Peter and I were proud. They played an amazing tournament and came within inches of winning against a very formidable Campo duo. My plan is to apply for an at-large berth in the division 2 NCS doubles championships next weekend, and I’m confident Chen/Owens will make it in. They should get another shot at an even more prestigious title.
Doubles Results:
Champions: Kiumars Koopah/Daniel Schpolanski – Campolindo (medal winner)
Second Place: Sze Ting Chen/Nick Owens – Acalanes (medal winner)
Third Place: Rex Pastore/Linus Wirstrom – Campolindo
Fourth Place: Charles Richtenburg/Raunav Agarwal – Miramonte
Congratulations to all the boys who reached the semis. Best of luck going forward to each school as we now come to the divisional fork in the road. Acalanes will head into division 2 post season while Campolindo and Miramonte head into division 1.
Go Dons! Coach Rick
