Boys’ Tennis: Chargers Fall in Second Round of CIF Playoffs

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/051410_boys_tennis_chargers_fall_in_second_round_of_cif_playoffs/

By Liz Frech

Dos Pueblos goes down fighting against the powerful Corona Del Mar

The sunshine did its best to dance in and out of the gray skies over the courts at Dos Pueblos High School as the Chargers faced off against the highly ranked Sea Kings from Corona Del Mar (No. 3 in Division I) in the second round of CIF playoffs.

We knew we would have to fight for every point and grind out one more match. We had some close doubles sets against this very deep team, but did not win anything in doubles and lost the match 4-14.

Malcolm Sutton and Robert Laskin kept pace with the No. 1 CDM team of Matt Fisher and Carl Fletcher for the first half of the set. Both players charged the net and fired their volleys. At 4-3, the momentum shifted, serves missed their mark and the experienced CDM team eventually took the set 6-4.

On another court, Austin Cano and Sean Handley had a 5-1 lead over the No. 3 CDM team of Ismean Aboubakare and Pierce Stemler. Then, the CDM team regrouped and played more aggressively, and climbed back to eventually win the set 7-5.

In singles, Dos Pueblos captured four sets with Sasha Gryaznov and Christian Edstrom. They could not break Shane Korber (No. 62 B18s), whose bullet shots and serves amazed us all. Both players did manage to take out No. 2 Ryan Peyton (No. 33 in B18s), as well as Alex Carlis. In the course of the match, back and leg pains plagued the Chargers. Richard Cheng hobbled out after his second match, and Malcolm Sutton went to the doctor after his second round to have his back adjusted.

Nonetheless, the Chargers did what they could against this powerful team. We appreciated the crowd support as we ended the season.

After the match, the teammates gathered around to console one another and to let the loss pass by them. Soon, they were laughing. Eventually, we met for a team dinner — talking about the upcoming prom and college plans.

Dos Pueblos, 14-7 overall, has one more tennis event, as Gryaznov heads to Sectionals on May 21.

Way to go, Chargers!

Dos Pueblos Singles

Sasha Gryaznov 2-1
Richard Cheng 0-2  
Christian Edstrom 2-1
Stephen Long 0-1

Dos Pueblos Doubles

Malcolm Sutton/Robert Laskin 0-2
Andy Silverstein/Eric Katz 0-3
Austin Cano/Sean Handley 0-2
Peter Shao/Robert Laskin 0-1
Eric Zmolek/Sean Simpson 0-1

Corona Del Mar Singles

Shane Korber 3-0
Ryan Peyton 1-2
Alex Carlis 1-2

Corona Del Mar Doubles

Matt Fisher/Carl Fletcher 3-0
Alex Murray/Carter Wheatley 3-0
Ismean Aboubakare/Pierce Stemler 3-0

— Liz Frech coaches boys’ tennis at Dos Pueblos High School.

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/051410_boys_tennis_chargers_fall_in_second_round_of_cif_playoffs/