In massive tennis competition that included schools from across California, the Santa Barbara High doubles team of Jackson Powell and Logan Lender were among the final sixteen doubles teams left in the CIF individual tournament.
With a strong performance on Friday afternoon at Seal Beach, the Dons duo made the local community proud with a run to the quarterfinals.
“Jackson and Logan put an exclamation mark on the end of our season by making it to the quarter-finals of the CIF doubles tournament,” Santa Barbara coach Greg Tebbe said.
Following two victories in their regional and upset win over No. 5 University High in the round of sixteen, the Dons tandem fell in two sets to Harvard Westlake.
In their first match of the day, Powell and Lender faced University High’s team of JT Joens and Tommy Wang. With some of their best tennis of the season, the Dons duo was able to pull out a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
“It was a great match to win, as their team is one of the top teams in Southern California,” coach Tebbe added. “Jackson and Logan played great and it was an exciting victory for them.”
This thrilling victory put them in the quarterfinals against the fourth seeded tandem of Adam Sraberg and Jed Kronenberg from Harvard Westlake. Despite a valiant effort, Powell and Lender’s season came to a close during a 6-1, 6-4 defeat.
“They played outstanding tennis and had a great win today,” concluded coach Tebbe. “I could not be more proud of them.”
— Noozhawk sports reporter Blake DeVine can be reached at bdevine@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.