The Dos Pueblos boys tennis team beat Cate on Tuesday afternoon even after winning only one doubles set, taking the non-league match 75-72 in a tiebreaker decided by games after a 9-9 tie.
The match was neck-and-neck the whole way until Austin Cano won his final set of the day 6-1, giving the Chargers (13-3) their ninth set plus the needed game differential to pull out the win.
Sasha Gryaznov and Cano swept their sets in singles and Richard Cheng won two.
But Cate’s doubles teams were equally as dominant, with Max Sabel-Gregory Mak and Wyatt Geiger-Connor Lemos swept their sets and Blake Mackall-Mark Mullan took two.
“We loaded up in doubles, hoping to have enough left over in singles,” said Cate head coach Bob Bonning, whose strategy nearly paid off for the 9-3 Rams.
The Chargers play Channel League-leading Santa Barbara, No. 3 in Division I, on Thursday in their final league match. Cate hosts San Marcos before traveling to Laguna Blanca on Saturday.
DOS PUEBLOS 9, CATE 9, DP wins on games 75-72
DP Singles Sasha Gry 3-0, Richard Cheng, 1-2, Austin Cano 3-0. Doubles – Silverstein/Katz 1-2, Kim/Sutton 2-0. Laskin/Simpson 0-3. Gabe Li/Eric Zmolek 0-1.
Cate Singles – Rohit Goswamy 1-2, Geoffrey Mak 0-3, Cam Seo 0-2, Austin Lokre 0-1, Doubles – Max Sabel-Gregory Mak 3-0, Wyatt Geiger – Connor Lemos 3-0, Blake Mackall – Mark Mullan 2-1.
