| | Published May 23rd, 2012
| Miramonte Boys' Tennis Takes First in NCS
| | By Simon Tryzna |  | | Michael Krakario
|
For the first time since 2002, Miramonte can lay claim to being the best boys' tennis team on the North Coast. On May 12, the Matadors took out third-seed Campolindo in the morning before upsetting two-time defending champion and number one seed, Monte Vista, 6-1 to take home the title.
The road to the championship match began with a 7-0 thrashing of Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) in Orinda on Tuesday, May 8.
Following the match, Coach Michael McCollum said that the team followed the game plan. "They're a young team. [We] did exactly what we intended to do."
Two days later, Miramonte hosted San Ramon Valley, a team they defeated earlier in the year. "[San Ramon has] a tradition of success," said McCollum. "[They play in] one of the best conferences for tennis. Team has real talent."
While Miramonte won by a score of 5-2, the matches were closer than the numbers suggest.
San Ramon Valley has three strong pairs of doubles and the two teams split the first two doubles points. The Mats' number one doubles pair was challenged from the get-go. They dropped the first set 3-6, but recovered to pick up a point, winning the last two sets 6-1, 6-2.
On the singles side, senior Michael Krakaris dispatched his San Ramon Valley counterpart 6-0, 6-0, finishing 25 minutes before teammate Peter Martin dropped the first set of his match. Martin went on to pull off a thrilling 6-7 (9), 6-4, 10-8 (tiebreak) win.
McCollum was happy with the team win. "The match went as I expected. Thought we'd sweep singles (won three of four) and win two of three doubles."
Awaiting Miramonte in the semi-finals was the only team who had beaten Miramonte this year-their Lamorinda rival, Campolindo.
The Cougars, led by captain Maks Tsvetkov, beat Clayton Valley in the first round 6-1 before downing California 5-2 to create yet another rematch versus the Mats.
Miramonte defeated Campolindo in the James Logan Championship and at home in league play, yet lost to the Cougars in Moraga for their only loss of the year.
The familiarity helped Miramonte more than it did Campolindo. Luke Bohuslav dispatched Tsvetkov 7-5, 6-1 to set the pace for his team, and the Matadors lost only three sets in the match. Two of the losses came to Campolindo's freshman, Tilden Oliver, as he defeated Krakaris 6-3, 6-3.
Despite the loss to Miramonte, Campolindo's head coach Petro Petreas was happy with his team's performance in the regular season and in the playoffs. "Our guys played well in all three matches. We were the only team to beat Miramonte during the season, but we just weren't able to do it a second time. I'm proud of the season as a whole and thankful to our graduating seniors."
Miramonte's win set up a duel of the top two seeds as they faced Monte Vista later on Saturday. Bohuslav once again led the way with a 6-2, 6-2 win. Krakaris pulled out a thrilling three-set win, and the Matadors hung on to win 5-2.
With the NCS Title secured, Miramonte next travels to Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento to participate in the CIF NorCal Team Tennis Championships on Friday.
|
 | | Peter Martin Photos Andy Scheck
|  | | Acalanes was represented in the postseason by Dan Cardiff. Cardiff beat Jonathan Kim of Clayton Valley in the first round of the singles tournament before falling to the overall number one seed.
| | | | | | | | | Advertisement
| | |
| | | print story
Before you print this article, please remember that it will remain in our archive for you to visit anytime.
download pdf
(use the pdf document for best printing results!) | | | Comments | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA