It was nice to log a win today as the varsity boys were coming off back-to-back losses in the last two matches. Benicia is our first interleague opponent of the season. There are four: Benicia, College Park, Las Lomas and Clayton Valley. The DFAL (Diablo Foothills Athletic League) is split into two divisions: Foothill and Valley. The Foothill division consists of just Acalanes, Campolindo, Miramonte and Northgate. The interleague teams are part of the Valley division and do not count towards our league record. We play them because the other schools in the Valley division don’t have full teams. This gives them an opportunity to play against teams with full squads. The scores do count towards the team’s win-loss record similar to practice matches. Currently, the Dons are 6-4.
Though our lineup was still missing some critical players, we stacked up well against Benicia. The good news, of course, is the win. The bad news is #2 Shah had to pull out of his match due to some soreness in the side of his abdomen. He insists it’s not serious, so we’ll see how he is doing after the weekend. The team has my apologies for not replacing Saaj before the match even started. Not my finest moment as a coach – but I’ll allow myself an error and learn from my mistake.
All the other singles and doubles matches were won in straight sets except the #5 singles line. #5 Brewer had a rough day at the office (it happens to all of us) with a very streaky match. He fell behind in the first set but came roaring back to win that set 6-4. Hanford then took the second set 6-1. Brewer took a big lead in the deciding tiebreaker but had trouble closing out the match. I am confident Rhett is learning from every win and loss, and he will take that experience into his next match. #2 Sze You Chen, #3 Hoeberechts, #4 Fisher and #6 Ammerman looked dominant in their wins and put the team ahead 4-2. Though we only needed one doubles win for the clinch, all three teams came through making the team win a decisive one: Acalanes 7, Benicia 2.
Because the interleague teams aren’t as strong as our league competitors, it gives me an opportunity to let our #13-17 players into the lineup. It also allows me to rest some of the higher seeds – and it gives our #1 player Sze Ting Chen a little more time to recover from his foot injury. Senior and team co-captain Billy O’Brien played his first season match with Grant Cortez in the dubs #3 line and they cruised 6-0, 6-2. They have been practicing as a team and were clearly ready for their first challenge. Freshman Alex King played in his first varsity match ever. He teamed up with our junior doubles veteran Nolan “Sticks” Roberts. It was a great debut spot for Alex. He was serving extremely well. He and Nolan won easily 6-1, 6-2.
Next week, we are away at College Park on Tuesday and home against Las Lomas on Thursday. Hopefully, Sze Ting Chen and Taylor will return to the lineup. Maybe Mother Nature will turn the temperature down a little too. She did do a nice thing today and blew in James Cortez, Grant’s older brother. It was nice to see an alumnus from the team three years ago. And listen now for the broken record, but I find it necessary to always thank our supporters. The house was packed again with parents rooting us on. I can’t thank you enough. I still have a really good feeling about this season. Go Dons! Coach Rick
Results: Acalanes defeated Benicia 7-2
Singles
Matthew Bown (B) defeated #1 Saaj Shah (A) 5-0 retired
#2 Sze You Chen (A) defeated Connor Chen (B) 6-0, 6-2
#3 Bora Hoeberechts (A) defeated Ben Slater (B) 6-3, 6-0
#4 Cameron Fisher (A) defeated Tyler Barlow (B) 6-1, 7-6 (2)
Wyatt Hanford (B) defeated #5 Rhett Brewer (A) 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
#6 James Ammerman (A) defeated Walt Warner (B) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
#1 Blake Marshall/Kyle Shin (A) defeated Esa Barakzai/Chris Kawecki (B) 6-1, 6-0
#2 Nolan Roberts/Alex King (A) defeated Brian Ko/Kelile Djegal (B) 6-1, 6-2
#3 Grant Cortez/Billy O’Brien (A) defeated Ian Jenest/Connor MacAdam (B) 6-0, 6-2
