Crystal Springs Uplands Score Critical WBAL Tennis Win Over SHP
Crystal Springs Uplands 5, Sacred Heart Prep 2
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Currently in third place in the West Bay Athletic League, the Gryphons (8-3 in WBAL, 8-5 overall) were looking at three league games in three days, facing fourth-place Sacred Heart Prep, followed by first-place Menlo and second-place Harker.
With only the WBAL champ assured a CCS berth, but as many as three at-large bids possible, Crystal Springs got the must-win matchup with Sacred Heart Prep (6-4 in WBAL) out of the way Tuesday, rallying behind a momentous comeback effort at No. 1 doubles to prevail 5-2.
No. 1 doubles Owen Dillon and Kevin Lin won their opening set handily, but soon found themselves trailing to Max Comolli and Alex Harper 5-2 in the second set. Then the recently paired Gryphons tandem caught fire, winning five straight games, including the fifth on a dramatic 40-40 match point to earn the comeback victory.
“Over the past two or three weeks the team has been playing with so much more confidence, so much more belief,” Crystal Springs head coach Anthony Jones said. “So that win … it definitely set the stage for the rest of the day.”
Much of that confidence has derived from No. 1 doubles since Lin made the transition to team with Dillon after serving as the No. 1 singles player for much of the season. Dillon, a sophomore, had been paired with junior Jonathan Song. Now, Song is playing at No. 3 singles, with senior Bayan Alizadeh moving up to No. 2 and sophomore Josh Chan moving to No. 1.
“I just felt stronger at doubles,” Lin said. “So I moved to doubles and it’s been very enjoyable.”
Lin said he and Dillon were having trouble matching SHP’s energy at the start of the second set. Then after Dillon locked in with his serve to earn the first win of the five-game streak, he and Lin broke serve, then did so again with the set tied 5-5 to take the lead.
“In the second set they started playing more aggressively,” Lin said. “So we didn’t know what to do.”
“Then I started serving better and started returning better,” Dillon said.
With the final game tied 40-40, Dillon reveled in the rhythm with his service stroke and attacked with a slicing serve that SHP hit out to end it.
“Being up just one match bolstered the confidence of the team and gave them belief that we could get it done today,” Jones said.
Crystal Springs’ No. 3 doubles Max Chang and Darren Jian followed by winning in dramatic fashion as well, prevailing in a super tiebreaker 6-4, 3-6, (10-8).
The Gryphons also enjoyed victories at No. 2 singles with Alizadeh topping senior Beto Macedo 6-2, 6-4; at No. 3 singles with Song defeating freshman Matthew Chun 6-4, 6-2; and at No. 4 singles as Justin Lim, a sophomore, defeated freshman Tyler McCormick 6-3, 6-2 in the match-clinching win.
SHP was still in the running when its No. 2 doubles Jack Stone and Will Texido exhibited some late dramatics of their own. The tandem earned the win over sophomores
Justin Chang and Henry Ding for a 7-5, 2-6, (10-5) victory.
Stone and Texido are a new pairing as well, having played just three matches together. They have won all three though, including a noteworthy victory at No. 3 doubles against powerhouse Menlo, the only SHP win in a 6-1 loss to its rival.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to win against Menlo,” Stone said.
Tuesday, after gutting out a 7-5 win in the opening set, Stone and Texido fell behind 2-0 in the second.
“I think they were playing a lot better,” Texido said. “We weren’t playing at the net as well as we should have and were making a lot of errors from the baseline.”
“I think we just came back and matched their energy,” Stone said. “They had pretty good energy in the second set … so we just had to get it back. And we played pretty
strongly.”
SHP also won at No. 1 singles with sophomore Max Cluss holding off Chan in the opening set and buckling down for a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win.
Back
With the Crystal Springs Uplands Gryphons looking to qualify for the Central Coast Section boys’ tennis playoffs for a sixth straight year, the deck sure seemed to be stacked against them this week.
Currently in third place in the West Bay Athletic League, the Gryphons (8-3 in WBAL, 8-5 overall) were looking at three league games in three days, facing fourth-place Sacred Heart Prep, followed by first-place Menlo and second-place Harker.
With only the WBAL champ assured a CCS berth, but as many as three at-large bids possible, Crystal Springs got the must-win matchup with Sacred Heart Prep (6-4 in WBAL) out of the way Tuesday, rallying behind a momentous comeback effort at No. 1 doubles to prevail 5-2.
No. 1 doubles Owen Dillon and Kevin Lin won their opening set handily, but soon found themselves trailing to Max Comolli and Alex Harper 5-2 in the second set. Then the recently paired Gryphons tandem caught fire, winning five straight games, including the fifth on a dramatic 40-40 match point to earn the comeback victory.
“Over the past two or three weeks the team has been playing with so much more confidence, so much more belief,” Crystal Springs head coach Anthony Jones said. “So that win … it definitely set the stage for the rest of the day.”
Much of that confidence has derived from No. 1 doubles since Lin made the transition to team with Dillon after serving as the No. 1 singles player for much of the season. Dillon, a sophomore, had been paired with junior Jonathan Song. Now, Song is playing at No. 3 singles, with senior Bayan Alizadeh moving up to No. 2 and sophomore Josh Chan moving to No. 1.
“I just felt stronger at doubles,” Lin said. “So I moved to doubles and it’s been very enjoyable.”
Lin said he and Dillon were having trouble matching SHP’s energy at the start of the second set. Then after Dillon locked in with his serve to earn the first win of the five-game streak, he and Lin broke serve, then did so again with the set tied 5-5 to take the lead.
“In the second set they started playing more aggressively,” Lin said. “So we didn’t know what to do.”
“Then I started serving better and started returning better,” Dillon said.
With the final game tied 40-40, Dillon reveled in the rhythm with his service stroke and attacked with a slicing serve that SHP hit out to end it.
“Being up just one match bolstered the confidence of the team and gave them belief that we could get it done today,” Jones said.
Crystal Springs’ No. 3 doubles Max Chang and Darren Jian followed by winning in dramatic fashion as well, prevailing in a super tiebreaker 6-4, 3-6, (10-8).
The Gryphons also enjoyed victories at No. 2 singles with Alizadeh topping senior Beto Macedo 6-2, 6-4; at No. 3 singles with Song defeating freshman Matthew Chun 6-4, 6-2; and at No. 4 singles as Justin Lim, a sophomore, defeated freshman Tyler McCormick 6-3, 6-2 in the match-clinching win.
SHP was still in the running when its No. 2 doubles Jack Stone and Will Texido exhibited some late dramatics of their own. The tandem earned the win over sophomores
Justin Chang and Henry Ding for a 7-5, 2-6, (10-5) victory.
Stone and Texido are a new pairing as well, having played just three matches together. They have won all three though, including a noteworthy victory at No. 3 doubles against powerhouse Menlo, the only SHP win in a 6-1 loss to its rival.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to win against Menlo,” Stone said.
Tuesday, after gutting out a 7-5 win in the opening set, Stone and Texido fell behind 2-0 in the second.
“I think they were playing a lot better,” Texido said. “We weren’t playing at the net as well as we should have and were making a lot of errors from the baseline.”
But the more experienced tandem found another gear, winning six straight games to seal the win.
“I think we just came back and matched their energy,” Stone said. “They had pretty good energy in the second set … so we just had to get it back. And we played pretty
strongly.”
SHP also won at No. 1 singles with sophomore Max Cluss holding off Chan in the opening set and buckling down for a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win.
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
