Santa Barbara’s Channel League champion tennis tandem of Evan Teufel and Spencer Simon won two matches without dropping a set on Friday to advance to CIF’s round of 16, something that no other local player could do.
Cate’s Wyatt Geiger and Max Sabel nearly took down Harvard Westlake’s No. 1 team, holding a match point in a third-set tiebreaker, but fell one round shy of the next level in an exciting 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (13-11) loss.
Geiger-Sabel did well to even be in a position to win the contest, having fallen behind 4-1 in the second set.
“We starting swinging a little more, hitting through the ball and things just started dropping,” explained Sabel. “It turned around quick once we got momentum going.”
“It’s a lot of fun. You get everybody here, all the good players are here, you get to see everyone play and hopefully make a run at it,” Geiger said.
The Dons team of Chris Williams and Dan Diaz also won two matches before falling in the round of 32. Williams and Diaz ran into Thousand Oak’s top-seeded Denis Lin and Marcos Giron and quickly lost 6-0, 6-2.
“We’ve played them in the season and they’re a tough team to beat,” credited Williams, still happy that he and Diaz won two matches before being knocked out. “It feels good winning today and I know Spencer and Evan will continue their run in this tournament.”
In singles, neither Channel League singles finalists Chase Melton, from Santa Barbara, or Sasha Gryaznov, from Dos Pueblos, played because of injury.
Cate’s Geoffrey Mak won his first match over Torrance’s Jason Bonsol before falling in next round. Bishop Diego’s Jordan Ekola, the Fronteir League’s runner-up, fell in the opening round to Brendon Josephson, from Div. I No. 2 Thousand Oaks.
Simon and Teufel will join the top four teams from three other regions at the Seal Beach Tennis Center on Friday to play out the final rounds, ultimately deciding the CIF champion.
