Redondo Union was no match for the No. 2-seeded Santa Barbara High boys tennis team on Wednesday, as the Dons moved past the Seahawks 15-3 in the first round of CIF.
Santa Barbara came out strong in the first round, and dominated until the last point, winning all three rounds 5-1, 4-2, 6-0.
While No.1 singles player Chase Melton did his fair share of damage in the match, winning all of his sets, it was the Santa Barbara’s doubles teams that secured the Dons a spot in the next round of the tournament.
All three starting doubles teams cruised through their sets, and freshmen Avery Chernin and Marshall Kuhn secured a win for the Dons in the final round. At the end of the match, the teams had won all nine sets of its matches, only dropping eight games total.
“My partner Matt Baum and I only lost one game in total today, due to his outstanding serving,” said senior Danny Diaz. “Regarding our teams chances in CIF, I really want to play Mater Dei in the next round because we lost to them last year and it would be really nice to get some revenge on them.”
The duo of Chris Grant and Adrian Huffard dominated in the No.1 doubles spot together throughout all three of their sets. It was a combination of Huffard’s powerful serve and Grant’s perfectly placed volleys that made them unbeatable for any of the Seahawks match-ups. Grant and Huffard won all three of their sets, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1.
In the first round singles matches, Melton took control early and put the Dons on top, winning 6-0 against Paul Levchenko. In the second round, Melton ousted Redondo’s No.1 singles player, Derek Levchenko, 6-0 before he was subbed out for the third round. Melton wasn’t the only Don that dominated in his singles matches, however, as Sammar Garcia won his three of his sets, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.
Both Melton and Sammar crushed winners down the line and came into net several times during their sets, creating tough matches for the Seahawk singles players.
Santa Barbara coach Steve Geremia couldn’t be happier about the first round win, and he has high hopes his team this season.
“Normally we have about three or four of our players who are playing well, but at the moment, about fourteen of our players are competing and winning the matches that we want them to right now,” said Geremia. “It’s going to be tough but this year I think we have a chance of going the distance and winning CIF… but it’s good that our players got to get some good matches in today and prepare themselves for the next rounds.”
In the next round, the Dons will play the winner of the matchup between Westlake and Mater Dei this Friday.
SANTA BARBARA 15, REDONDO UNION 3
Singles– SB: Kirchkoff 0-2, Melton 2-0, Trevillian 1-0, Busch 0-1, Garcia 3-0. RU: D. Levchenko 1-2, P. Levchenko 0-3, Tekia 0-3
Doubles– SB: Grant/Huffard 3-0, Baum/Diaz 3-0, Vaughn/Williams 2-0, Chernin/Kuhn 1-0. RU: Shin/McCarthy 0-3, Dantdia/Lew 0-3, Manior/Choy 0-3.
