Coach Ray “Slash” Vazquez was in pre-school the last time Bishop Diego won a league title in boys tennis.
The Cardinals breezed down at St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, dominating the Seraphs 14-4 to take the Frontier League crown — their first since 1972.
Freshman Max Heitmann got in the match and took a quick 5-2 lead in his set before making it exciting in a 7-5 win. Tim Illgen and Nick Lensander went 2-1 to pick up their set wins in about a month, and the team of Aaron Rubio-Daniel Helkey fought hard but lost in a doubles after replacing the “Touchdown Twosome” of RJ Escamilla and Art Gonzalez, which went 2-0.
“We had a pretty good inkling that we could win the title once we saw the new divisions. We knew that (Matthew) Grimes was coming in as a freshman and our singles were going to be solid,” said Vazquez.
The Cardinals, now 7-1 in the conference, face struggling Santa Clara before next week’s league championships.
BISHOP DIEGO 14, ST. BONAVENTURE 4
Singles — BD: Jordan Ekola 3-0, Matthew Grimes 2-1, Nolan Tisdale 1-1, Max Heitmann 1-0. SB: Austin Garcia 2-1, Phil Degiglio 0-3, Brett Aston 0-3.
Doubles — Nick Mathis-Sean Stratford-Jones 3-0, RJ Escamilla-Art Gonzalez 2-0, Aaron Rubio-Daniel Helkey 0-1, Tim Illgen-Nick Lensander 2-1.
