Alex Furukawa went undefeated in singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Conor Scheinberg and Jason Barnick swept their three sets, leading Laguna Blanca to a 12-6 boys tennis win over Carpinteria in battle of CIF Division 4 top-10 teams on Monday.
With the win, the fifth-ranked Owls (9-2) improved their chances to make the playoffs, according to coach Trevor Thorpe.
“We’re in a good position to make the playoffs now and the team is fired up to keep getting better,” he said. “That enthusiasm should serve us well as we head into the home stretch of this season.”
Seventh-ranked Carpinteria fell to 6-9 after its second loss against Laguna Blanca.
“This was a tough one,” coach Charles Bryant said. “We played really well against them about a month ago (a 10-8 loss) but they just took it to us today. I have to give the Laguna Blanca players and Coach Trevor Thorpe a lot of credit as they have improved quite a bit since we faced them last time. And I have to give myself a little pep talk/lecture as I am to blame as I just did not get the players up to where we should or could be at this stage of the season.”
The doubles teams of Solomon Nahooikaika/Kirby Zapata and Luke Nahooikaika/Sam Truax each won two sets for the Warriors.
Carpinteria plays a big Frontier League match Thursday against Foothill Tech.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.