Kevin Ha outlasted Miles Baldwin, 7-5, in the battle of No. 1 players and won two more sets, helping the Cate boys tennis team remain undefeated by slipping past Dos Pueblos 75-70 in games after the teams tied 9-9 in total sets.
The win completed a first-ever sweep of the three Santa Barbara public schools by Cate. The Rams earlier defeated Santa Barbara and San Marcos.
“Kevin again showed why he is the leader of this team,” Cate coach Jason Saltoun-Ebin said. “That set, really the entire match, could have gone either way, and I’m just really proud of this team for fighting for every game. We knew before the match started it was likely to come down to games and even though we didn’t win as many sets as we wanted in doubles, the doubles teams fought really hard to keep the sets close to allow us to win on games.”
Cate’s No. 1 doubles team of Christian Herman and Nicholas Hildebrandt broke a 6-6 tie with a victory in the third round. Kevin Ha and Ethan Ha each posted singles wins, while Dos Pueblos got wins at Nos 1 and 2 doubles and Baldwin won his set to knot the team score at 9-9.
“This was our first match after spring break,” DP coach Liz Frech said. “We played a very tight but well fought contest against Cate. We battled nearly three hours. I am proud of my team, which played with aggression, energy and tenacity.”
Cate is 9-0 on the season and Dos Pueblos is 4-5.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.