Carpinteria boys tennis couldn’t extend its season on Tuesday, falling 13-5 to Bolsa Grande in the CIF Division 4 quarterfinal.
After coming out of the first round tied 3-3, the Warriors fell down 5-1 in the second after dropping two close sets. Bolsa wrapped up the match afterwards.
Solomon Nahooikaika/Kirby Zapata held control of all three of their sets and took down the Matadors’ no. 1 doubles team, 6-1. Nahooikaika stormed the net and deceptively hit shots down the line to uphold the duo’s unpredictability.
Meanwhile, Luke Nahooikaika/Cameron Gralewski went for 2-1 and launched a big first-round comeback from 1-4 down to win a 7-6 (4) tiebreaker.
The team’s other top players, including singles no. 1 Jeremy Saito, hung in there, but couldn’t finish with wins, coach Charles Bryant said.
“This is one of those matches that I truly believe we would win 90 percent of the time they would play,” Bryant said, “but just not today.”
Carpinteria finishes its season 16-5 overall and as Frontier League champs.
“We cannot remember the last time Carpinteria has advanced in the CIF playoffs,” Bryant said. “It really could be a few decades ago. So, to win two rounds is something hopefully we can build on for next season.”
Saito, Nahooikaika/Zapata and Nahooikaika/Gralewski will all compete May 24 in the CIF Sectional individual tournament.
— Noozhawk sports reporter Shomik Mukherjee can be reached at smukherjee@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @noozhawksports, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.