Sierra hosted Mira Loma for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV boys tennis team championships Saturday, and the top-seeded Timberwolves pulled out a 5-4 win for the first section blue banner in program history.
“Congratulations to this team,” Timberwolves coach Dan Duke said. “It was one thing at a time for us. Our first goal was to win league, which we did, and then see what would happen in the section (playoffs).”
Sierra’s No. 2 Ashton Hillard had the match of the day for the Timberwolves, with the sophomore bouncing back from a 4-6 first-set loss to win the next two 6-1, 6-0 over Kai Hedglin.
“It was a hard match, because he has been playing for like twice long as I have,” Hillard said. “I was able to get a lot of great serves on him, hitting them deep.
“It was a great match, and we played to a third set and I definitely played a lot better in the third set than I did the first.”
Sierra’s No. 2 doubles team boasted freshmen Ryan Alves and Harsith Kumar, and the duo’s 6-0, 6-3 win over Chunyee Shu and Chris Yao clinched the match.
“I kind of thought that we were in control the whole time,” Alves said. “It felt really good to win in the end.
“It was a big relief to know that we could actually do it.”
Kumar credits the pair’s success to their ability to work well together.
“The chemistry between Ryan Alves and myself was just outstanding,” Kumar said.
Sierra’s No. 1 doubles team of Sid Gopendran and Sparsh Beedi swept Maxim Beschastnov and Anthony Beschastnov, 6-3, 6-2
A junior, Santiago Franco anchors the bottom of the Timberwolves’ ladder, and he did so by going through the season without a loss thanks to a 6-3, 6-0 win over Hayden Liu.
“With my first time being singles, I did not expect to go through the season undefeated,” Sanders said. “Especially being No. 6 and barely making it out there.
“I am really happy.”
The Matadors from Sacramento won four of the six singles matches: No. 1 Min Htun defeated Brady Alves 6-0, 6-2; No. 3 Krishh Bunsal downed David Martin 6-1, 6-1; No. 4 Nathan Jeebamani defeated Hasnain Ali, 7-5, 6-0 and No. 5 Vikram Kabaliputi defeated Oliver Naven 7-5, 6-3.
That left the score at 4-4, but some last-minute reshuffling forced Mira Loma to forfeit the No. 3 doubles match.
“We had two guys in classes back in Chicago,” Matadors coach Neil Van Dyck said. “That’s just the way it worked out.”
