Earlier today, the Dons played their final practice match which was against De La Salle.  With the exception of the #1 doubles line, the Dons swept the Spartans and most matches were won in straight sets.  They did this without two of our top players Tyler Toni and Zach Snyder.  #1 Nick Owens, #2 Tucker Brewer, #5 Kaya Hoeberechts and #6 Aaron Brown got us off to great 4-0 start by winning their matches fairly quickly in straight sets.  #3 Ace Reeder and #4 Saaj Shah split sets but both won their third-set tiebreakers clinching the overall match.  This took the pressure off of the doubles teams who also performed extremely well.  #2 Sammy Foster/Will Lofting and #3 James Cortez/Ben Reinsberg both won their matches in straight sets.  Though #1 Luke Brightbill/Riley Bonner lost, they fought back from an 0-6, 1-4 deficit and almost won that second set losing 5-7 in the tiebreaker.  Including the Fresno tournament and the Piedmont scrimmage, the Dons were a respectable 5-3 in pre-season play.  We are as ready as we can be for league matches next week.

Weather permitting, the week of March 13 we kick off our league season against contenders College Park (Tue/4PM) and Campolindo (Thu/3:30PM).  Both are away matches.  We are hoping for two things, good weather and the return of our injured players.

It was no surprise that we had several of our supportive parents rooting on the team at Valley Vista.  The weather cooperated and it was actually a very nice day.  We did have to keep our eyes open for softballs – the girls’ softball team was playing next to the tennis courts.  Home runs would go over the fence and potentially land on the top of our heads.  Thanks again parents for cheering us on!

Results – Acalanes defeated De La Salle (8-1)