Ten: Royals get clawed in SLO

San Luis Obispo gained the upper hand in a strong first round and cashed it in with a 12-6 victory over visiting San Marcos in Wednesday’s season opener.

Luca Ferrari and Owen Lincoln won two of three sets for the Royals in singles. The doubles team of Jake Wheelock and Jack Haley also won two of three for San Marcos.

But the Tigers led 5-1 after the opening round with the first of three wins for singles player Mason Hansen and the doubles tandem of Josh Milla and Noah Cleeve.

“We hung with SLO today but couldn’t win the big points at the end,” reported Royals head coach Jarrod Bradley. “We’ll work on that in practice and look to improve our ability to close out the close sets.”

Up next for San Marcos is Cate on Friday.

SAN LUIS OBISPO 12, SAN MARCOS 6

SM Singles – Luca Ferrari 2-1, Owen Lincoln 2-1, Oliver Piltch 0-3

SM Doubles – Jack Haley-Jake Wheelock 2-1, Mathis McComb-Travis Smelley 0-3, Zachary Bordofsky-Ramin Parvin 0-3

SLO Singles – Mason Hansen 3-0, Nick Johnson 1-2, Brooks Rossi 1-2

SLO Doubles – Josh Milla-Noah Cleeve 3-0, Luke Iunker-Brandon Lippold 2-1, Scott Hicks-Cole Stephenson 2-1