Dealing with early-season injuries didn’t bode well for the Santa Barbara High boys tennis team Wednesday as it headed down to face Thousand Oaks, a team with three players in the top-25 USTA national rankings.
The doubles teams of Chris Williams-Dan Diaz and Jim Vaughan-Evan Teufel each went 2-1, but Santa Barbara fell 13-5.
“We have a lot of returners, but we’re just not 100-percent,” said coach Steve Geremia. “We’re missing a lot of guys due to injury right now.”
Chase Melton went 0-2 before pulling out with a hurt leg, but he did take Dennis Lin to the limit in a 6-5 set loss. Lin, who will play for Stanford next year, is currently ranked 14th nationally among 18-year-olds.
Billy Grokenberger, who was also playing through injury, picked up the only singles win for the Dons.
THOUSAND OAKS 13, SANTA BARBARA 5
Singles — SB: Chase Melton 0-2, Adrian Huffard 0-1, Billy Grokenberger 1-2, Matt Demopoulos 0-1, Jeremy Kirchoff 0-2. TO: Dennis Lin 3-0, Marcus Giron 3-0, Alex Johnson 1-2.
Doubles — SB: Christian Wheeler-Matt Baum 0-3, Chris Williams-Dan Diaz 2-1, Jim Vaughan-Evan Teufel 2-1. TO: Kyle McMorrow-Tyler Bridges 3-0, Matt Shwarnzynski-Brandon Josbpuson 1-2, Ben Moon-Mika Kunishui 1-2.
Record — SB 3-1.
