Matt Baum and Dan Diaz might not supposed to be there, but they will be.
Against all odds, the Santa Barbara High doubles team upset Harvard-Westlake’s Chris Kenney and Spencer Suk on Friday at the CIF Individual Regionals to advance to next week’s CIF Finals.
Baum and Diaz drew a crowd against Kenney and Suk, the Mission League champions. The two teams split the first two sets before the Santa Barbara tandem faced double-match point in the super tiebreaker at 9-7. Baum and Diaz rallied, however, to take the match 6-3, 3-6, (14-12).
Matt Baum and Dan Diaz share a half-embrace after upsetting Chris Kenney and Spencer Suk.
“We had pretty much accepted losing,” Baum said. “When we were all of a sudden back in it at 10-all, we were kind of caught by surprise. And we just got really fired up.”
Dons teammate Chase Melton will also be at the Seal Beach Tennis Center, as he and fellow Channel League singles finalist Sasha Gryaznov made it through the singles bracket to each claim on of the four spots available on Friday at Cate School.
The first two rounds of the doubles draw was played at Carpinteria High before the last round moved up to Cate’s campus where the complete singles draw was conducted.
Melton and Gryaznov won three matches on the day. Melton swept through six sets while Gryaznov was pushed to a super tiebreaker in his third match, a 6-2, 4-6, (10-4) victory over Harvard-Westlake’s Matt Wagner.
Cate’s top doubles team of Rohit Goswamy and Mark Mullan came within one win of the Finals, dropping a 6-3, 7-5 decision to Valencia’s Tyler Gotshall and Ben Inchalik.
The Regional, which is three rounds, included players from Atascadero to Thousand Oaks across all divisions.
CIF’s Individual Championships are hosted at the Seal Beach Tennis Center on Friday and Saturday.
DOUBLES RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Raymond Ajoc/Jason Cun, Gahr, def. Tyler Chamness/Jacob Goeres, St. Jospeh 6-7, 6-2, (10-2)
Trent Lopez/Ethan Lopez, Oxnard, def. Peter Angulo/Robbie Milla, SLO, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
Matt Baum/Dan Diaz, SB, def. Brennan Faith/Alan Tong, South Torrance, 6-2, 6-0
Mickey Vumar/Jake Nolan, Rio Mesa, def. Connor Tien/Binh Pham, Cerritos, 6-1, 6-0
Mason Lewis/Ridge Kennington, Oaks Christian, def. Tony Kuo/Evan Benhoff, Villanova, 6-2, 6-2
Devon Barber/Kyle Barber, Atascadero, def. Richard Rideout/Ben Kray, Lakewood, 6-1, 6-4
Zach Drost/Mitch Krems, Westlake, def. Gregory Mak/Blake Mackall, Cate, def. 6-2, 6-4
Jeremy Wacker/Ben Willner, Viewpoint, def. Isaac Kuo/Derek Lee, Marantha, 6-3, 6-1
Logan Deats/Brandon Mann, Santa Ynez, def. Daniel Bingham/Daniel Bogan, Valencia, 3-6, 6-2, 10-6
Martin Patterson/Berman, Harvard-Westlake, def. Matt Grimes/Charlie Taylor, BD, 6-3, 6-2
Tyler Gotshall/Ben Inchalik, Valencia, def. Dillon Morgan/Matt Gazzara, Oaks Christian, 6-0, 6-0
Josh Berger/Jordan Russ, Milken Community, def. Milan Suzuki/Jake WEstrade, South Torrance, 6-4, 6-2
Mark Mullan/Rohit Goswamy, Cate, def. Carlos Munoz/Eduardo Rosas, Paramount, 6-2, 6-2
Chris Lees/Daniel Minami, Thousand Oaks, def. Colin McLane/Jermey Harden, LB Wilson, 6-2, 6-4SECOND ROUND
Chris Kenney/Spencer Suk, Harvard-Westlake, def. Ajoc/Cun, 6-0, 6-1
Baum/Diaz, def. Lopez/Lopez, 6-3, 6-0
Jim Vaughan/Chris Williams, SB, def. Kumar/Nolan, 6-1, 6-2
Barber/Barber def. Lewis/Kennington 6-0, 6-0
Drost/Krems def. Wacker/Willner, 6-3, 6-0
Patterson/Bernam def. Deats/Mann 6-0, 6-3
Gotshall/Inchiak def. 6-0, 6-0
Mullan/Goswamy def. Lees/Ninami 6-4, 4-6, (10-6)THIRD ROUND
Baum/Diaz def. Suk/Kenney 6-3, 3-6, (14-12)
Barber/Barber def. Vaughan/Williams 6-4, 6-1
Patterson/Bernam def. Drost/Krems 6-3, 2-6, (10-7)
Gotshall/Inchalik, Valencia, def. Mullan/Goswamy 6-3, 7-5SINGLES RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Austin Lokre, Cate, def. Jordan Hatar, Templeton, 6-1, 6-3
Sydney Tan, Lakewood, def. Randal Hsieh, Marantha, 6-1, 6-0
Jay Leelavanich, Chamindade, def. Joey Sander, Camarillo, 6-2, 6-1
Hans Baumstark, Santa Clara, def. Nick Lench, South Torrance, 1-6, 7-6, 10-8
Eli Whittle, Arroyo Grande, def. Jason Ferlianto, Canyon, 6-4, 6-4
McCoy Becker, Thacher, def. Alex Quezada, Paramount, 6-1, 6-2
Chase Melton, SB, def. Jonah Felt, Milken Community, 6-1, 6-1
Kyle Porter, Lakewodd, def. Hisashi Nomoto, Villanova, 6-3, 7-5
William Duncan, Newbury Park, def. Micah Gordan, Windward, 6-2, 6-2
Wyatt Houghton, Oaks Christian, def. GasparMacalutas, Valencia/V, 6-1, 5-7, (10-5)
Sasha Gryaznov, DP, def. Jose Luna, Warren, 6-0, 6-1
Bryce Beiswanger, Viewpoint, def. Jamel Campbell, SLO, 6-1, 6-1
Miles Seeman, SY, def. Corey Karen, Camarillo, 6-4, 6-3
Matt Wagner, Harvard-Westlake, def. Jake Ly, South Torrance, 6-0, 6-4
