After taking third place in the DAL-F season-ending tournament, our Acalanes standout doubles team was an outside candidate for the NCS Doubles Championships. When the second-place finishers, Dille and Elias from Miramonte, decided to withdraw from further tournament competition, Brewer/Reeder moved into the second spot. Long story short, Brewer/Reeder were named as one of the sixteen teams competing in the division 2 event.
The division 2 tournament is being hosted by the Golden Gate Park – Goldman Center in San Francisco. The seeding and draw were determined right before the first round kicked off. All fourteen coaches representing the sixteen players (Arcata and Head Royce had two players) voted each step of the way. Only four teams were seeded, which is normal as the rule is usually one seed for every four teams. When we were done, Brewer/Reeder were considered but not seeded; however, they ended up with a dream spot in the draw. If they won their first round, they would meet the #4 seed in the quarters.
In the first round, Brewer/Reeder faced unseeded Roland Sue and Mathew Mozalta from Albany High. The first set was closely contested, and it felt like Tucker and Ace were settling into their first experience at the championships. Towards the end of that first set, you could almost hear the click as they found their stride. They went on to win the first set 6-4 and then it was cruise control through a much more decisive 6-1 second set. And just like that, they’re in the quarterfinals.
Their opponents in round two were #4 seeded Chou-Belden and Eidelhoch from Lick-Wilmerding. They won a closely contested match against the Head Royce team of Berjis and Ingalls in the first round, 6-3, 7-6. Tucker and Ace got off to a slow start. A little bit of inconsistency and some unforced errors and they were quickly down 1-5 in the first set. Then it was that click sound again, and the solid serving, deep ground strokes and aggressive poaching returned. They reeled off six straight games to literally steal the first set right out of their opponent’s hands. It visibly shook up Chou-Belden and Eidelhoch, and Tucker and Ace were clearly in the driver’s seat now as tentativeness and unforced errors crept into the Lick-Wilmerding team’s games. All three of the Lick-Wilmerding coaches were giving their duo instructions, and early in the second set it was close at 3-3, but Brewer/Reeder were simply too much for them and ran off to win that set 6-3. Match point, unfortunately, was decided by an overturned call by Chou-Belden. The serve was clearly in, and it was returned, but he mistakenly called it out and then immediately reversed his call. Just like that, Tucker and Ace advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals were originally scheduled for the next day, Saturday; however, a 90% chance of rain was in the forecast. The tournament directors made a very proactive call to postpone day 2 to Monday.
As a coach, I was proud and impressed by Tucker and Ace as competitors and gentlemen on the court. Both matches were fun to watch and all of the players competed with good calls, complemented shots and no drama. In the middle of the second match, I started thinking about setting up a Tucker-Ace fan club. I was told by at least five different division 2 coaches that they were impressed with both Tucker and Ace and that their doubles knowledge and willingness to be aggressive at the net was just amazing. I answered like any other humble coach would – my response – “I taught them everything they know about doubles.” All kidding aside, the boys really made Acalanes and the DAL-F proud today. They already have a very respectable showing and they’re not done yet. Next up is the #1 seeded Boake and Linn from SF University. In the first two rounds, they have only dropped 3 games. I’ll side with Tucker and Ace. If you want to track the tournament, use the link below and click on “brackets.” This will allow you to view the division one and two singles and doubles progress. Monday, the boys will be playing two rounds regardless of the outcome of the semifinals. The NCS wants to award third place, so the semifinal losers will play to determine that spot. Go Dons! Coach Rick
CIF-North Coast Section (cifncs.org)
