San Marcos went down swinging in its CIF-SS Division 1 second-round match against Sage Hill of Newport Beach. The unbeaten teams slugged it out to a 9-9 tie in sets, but Sage Hill won the match on total games, 74-68, on Friday.
It was the only loss of the season for the Royals, who end the year at 17-1. Sage Hill is now 17-0.
San Marcos freshman Masato Perera won three tough sets, beating Emin Torlic 6-4, Steven Ferry 6-2 and Rohun Kirshnan 6-0.
“Masa was an absolute rock today,” coach Jarrod Bradley said. “He did everything he could to will our team to a win. High school tennis is different than USTA. You get one set to defeat your opponent and there is little time for adjustments. Sage Hill put up three incredible singles players and Masa found a way to beat each of them.”
Perera finished the season with a record of 26-1 and will compete in the CIF Individuals later this month after winning the Channel League singles championship.
San Marcos led 4-2 in the first round on the strength of tiebreak wins at No. 1 singles and doubles.
“The first round was the most entertaining and high level tennis I’ve seen in 19 years of coaching,” Bradley said. “Both teams hit huge shots and deserved to win those sets. Masa, Dom, and Alexi put us in a great position to win today and it hurts that we couldn’t find a way to win. Credit to Sage Hill for battling til the end because it came down to the last shot.”
The two teams battled to a 3-3 tie in the second round, with Sage Hill’s No. 1 tandem of Alex Hung and Robert Gershultz pulling out a 6-4 win against San Marcos’ No. 2 team of Bryan Shott and Alex Stefanov.
Dominik Stefanov and Alexi Gill swept their sets 7-6 (4), 6-0, 6-0.
“Dominik and Alexi pulled out a tough first set and dominated the rest of the day. They played with a lot of heart and intensity,” said Bradley.
Sage Hill pulled out the win in the third round with a pair of 6-4 set victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles.
“We were confident going into the last round and just couldn’t come up with enough to win,” Bradley said. “We had an amazing season and this is a special group of guys that I won’t soon forget. They have a lot to be proud of in winning three straight Channel League Championships and bringing our program to the highest level it’s every been.”
San Marcos 9 (68)
Masato Perera 3-0
Alex Chow 0-3
Sam Friedman 0-3
Dominik Stefanov-Alexi Gill 3-0
Bryan Shott-Alex Stefanov 1-1
Bryan Shott-Ronin Suzuki 0-1
Daniel Newton-Jimmy Wimbish 2-1
Sage Hill 9 (74)
Emin Torlic 2-1
Steven Ferry 2-1
Rohun Krishnan 2-1
Adam Hung-Robert Gerschultz 2-1
Ryan Ha-Bryan Hu 0-3
Matt Strok-Alan Wang 1-2