The Carpinteria boys dropped a tight match Wednesday to defending CIF champion Foothill Tech, 10-8, in a first-round Division 3 playoff match.
The Warriors’ No. 1 singles player Austin Stone swept his three sets — including a dramatic comeback for a 7-6 win — and his brother Max Stone went 2-1 in singles sets. In doubles, Carpinteria’s Connor Gralewski and Matthew Endow swept their three sets.
But there were, Warriors coach Charles Bryant said, “many tight sets that just didn’t seem to go our way. Foothill Tech was able to close out a lot of those to seal the win.”
That included three 6-4 set losses in doubles, he said.
“It is hard when you play close enough to win but just cannot get that last little bump to put you in the win column,” Bryant said.
However, Bryant praised a “tremendously successful season” for the Citrus Coast League champions. He cited seniors Austin Stone, Ben Persoon, Zaiden Juarez and Ian Thomas.
“These four seniors will be greatly missed and I know our younger players are grateful for the impact that was made by them,” Bryant said.
“We will lose the strongest player I have had here at CHS in the past eleven years in Austin Stone,” he said. “It was almost a done deal to get three wins right off the bat. That will be hard to replace that efficiency.”
Doubles players Persoon and Juarez, three-year starters, “have improved so much in their four years.” And two-year captain Thomas “did an amazing job leading this team, which was not easy at times. But his cool demeanor and competitiveness rubbed off on his teammates and took them to the next level. Ian communicated so well with me and his teammates.”
Carpinteria finishes the season 14-6 overall and 8-1 in the Citrus Coast League.
Cate Edged in Total Games After 9-9 Tie
The Cate boys took six of nine doubles sets but lost a narrow decision to visiting Burroughs in a first-round CIF-SS playoff match Wednesday.
With total sets deadlocked at 9-9, a tally of the total games won favored Burroughs by just four.
Though the Cate team season ends with the loss, the Rams doubles team of junior Will Vanica and sophomore Ethan Bloom will play in the CIF individual doubles tournament on May 19 at Carpinteria.
“The match really could not have been any closer,” Cate coach Jason Saltoun-Ebin said. “At the end of the first round we were tied at 3. At the end of the second we were tied at 6 and at the end of all the matches we were tied at 9.
“We took almost all the close matches, including a dramatic tie-breaker 8-6 to keep us in the match, but they were just a tad better today.”
Vanica, Bloom and junior Jengus Ercil won one set each in singles.
The Cate doubles teams of freshmen Harry Su and Nate Newlove, juniors Alex Tang and Owen Conde Raggett, and sophomores Nate Keshen and Felipe Blanco combined for six set wins.
Dos Pueblos Wins Division 2 Opener
Dos Pueblos defeated visitingBurbank in a CIF-SS Division 2 boys tennis opener on Wednesday, 11-7.
The Chargers advance to a second-round match at Temple City on Friday.
Laguna Blanca Wins in Division 5
The doubles teams won eight of nine sets to lead the Laguna Blanca boys tennis team to a 15-3 win over visiting Chaffey on Wednesday in a second-round CIF-SS Division 5 match.
The Owls improve to 12-2 on the season and play at Schurr in a second-round match on Friday.
The team of Kai Suzuki and Cody Busch-Weiss won a 7-5 decision over Chaffey’s No. 1 team and followed with a pair of 6-1 victories .
The snior/freshman combo Ben Rodgers and Davis Ohanian continued their strong play, beating the top two teams from Chaffey 6-2, 6-0, before senior George Nicks took over for Ohanian in the third round for a 6-1 win. Sophomores Mason Berg and Jake Gidney went 2-1 on the day.
Senior Owen Pryor finished 2-0 on the day from the top singles slot in the lineup, while junior Kent Dunn was 2-1, including a win over the Chaffey #1. Junior Aden Meisel slotted back into the singles lineup for the first time in a few weeks and collected a 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 sweep on the day.
Santa Ynez Advances in Division 4
The doubles team of Charlie Hoose and Micah Thomas didn’t drop a game in sweeping its three sets, pacing the Santa Ynez boys tennis team to a 17-1 win over Arroyo in a CIF-SS Division 4 first-round match in El Monte
“We played solid from top to bottom today and it was a great team win,” said coach Nate Thompson.
Luke Lockhart rallied from a 0-2 deficit and defeated Arroyo’s No. 1, 6-2. He won his next two sets 6-0, 6-0.
The Pirates (17-5) host Magnolia on Friday.
Santa Ynez scores
Singles:
Noah Thompson 5-7,6-0,6-2
Jacob Merrill 6-0,6-1
Luke Lockhart 6-2,6-0,6-0
Sub: Hazen Gardner 6-0
Doubles:
Charlie Hoose/Micah Thomas 6-0,6-0,6-0
Ethan Guillemin/Jace Hurnblad 6-2,6-1,6-3
Marc Westall/Brett Adams 6-4
Marc Westall/Luc Colin 7-6,6-0