Palos Verdes High School overlooks the ocean. What a view! The long trek on Wednesday to play the No. 2 seeded school in the first round of the CIF boys’ tennis playoffs didn’t seem to tire the Dos Pueblos High School Chargers.
They all knew it would be the final match of the season, and they wanted to finish the season strong. That they did, even with the 1-17 loss. Every player exhibited high energy and intensity. We rearranged the lineup and formed new doubles pairs.
Eric Katz and Caleb Franzen played a fiery and aggressive first round, and gave us our lone set (6-3) against the No. 1 doubles team. We could hear their battle cry of “Go” after points.
In addition, we had many close sets. For example, Peter Shao and Richard Cheng, aka “Senior Bros,” climbed back from 2-5 to tie the set, before falling 5-7 to the taller team.
Then, in singles, we made note of how Santa Barbara High School fared against Palos Verdes. Jared Madison had another three rounds of slugfesting, exchanging many fine baseline rallies with Erik Lim in a tight battle that went Lim’s way, 6-4.
The Chargers finished their season at 11-8. I am very proud of this team for their great attitudes, their support of one another and all of the hard work they did this season. Thanks for the memories and “good times.” Way to go, Chargers!
Dos Pueblos Singles
Jared Madison 0-3
Greg Steigerwald 0-2
Matt Long 0-3
Richard Souleles 0-1
Dos Pueblos Doubles
Eric Katz/Caleb Franzen 1-2
Jake Roberts/Mason Casady 0-3
Peter Shao/Richard Cheng 0-3
Palos Verdes Singles
Jeff Hawke 1-0
Erik Lim 2-0
Jake Douglas 3-0
John Gong 2-0
Trent Wong 1-0
Palos Verdes Doubles
Chase Ruth/Tony Dellovade 1-1
Dylan Holt/Brett Landon 3-0
Elliot Solandt/Danny Miller 3-0
Nick Spelta/Jonathan Chan 1-0
— Liz Frech coaches boys’ tennis at Dos Pueblos High School.