Petar Jivkov and the doubles team of Travis Enholm-Parker Funk sparked San Marcos to a 5-1 start in the first round and went unbeaten on the day, leading the Royals to a 10-8 Channel League tennis win over Dos Pueblos on Monday.
Jivkov was solid all day, sweeping his sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
“Petar was in a zone today,” San Marcos coach Jarrod Bradley said. “He really dominated the court from the baseline and moved forward well for easy points.”
Enholm-Funk won 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
“Trav and PJ really had fun on the court today. They hit their shots with confidence, moved well on the court and poached consistently at the net. I’m really proud of them for stepping up today when we needed them most,” said Bradley.
The visiting Chargers fought back in the second round, winning four sets. In singles, Sean Handley and Matt Long won 6-1, 6-4, respectively. Jake Roberts-Caleb Franzen took another set at 6-4, and Eric Katz-Ziyad Marcus grinded back from a 1-4 deficit to push the set to a tiebreaker.
“We gathered the team around and talked again about digging deep, fighting for every point, and taking charge,” DP coach Liz Frech said.
“We let up a bit after the first round and didn’t play the close sets too well today,” Bradley said. “We will use that as motivation to improve. Take nothing away from DP, though. They played very well today and we are happy to have come away with the win. There is a lot of mutual respect between the two teams, both with players and coaches.”
In the final round, Katz-Marcus took another set that went to a tiebreaker as did Peter Shao and Mason Casady. The latter two fought through back and shoulder injuries to finish that set.
Handley took one set in that third round, and Greg Steigerwald had an “almost” set but fell 7-5.
Jackson Mann, playing singles for the first time in his three-year San Marcos varsity career, gave the Royals a huge lift by winning two of his three sets (6-4, 6-4, 1-6).
“Jackson was emotionally into the match today and played the big points well. I surprised him by putting him in the singles line-up and he responded with a great match.”
The Royals improve to 8-3, 3-1 in league to move into sole possession of second place. Dos Pueblos, which was without starters Jared Madison (playing in Easter Bowl tournament), Richard Cheng (visiting colleges back East) and Sean Simpson and Alex Yang (injuries), fell to 5-5 and 1-2 league.
Dos Pueblos 10, San Marcos 8. Singles—DP: Sean Handley 2-1, Matt Long 1-2, Greg Steigerwald 0-3. SM: Petar Jivkov 3-0, Jackson Mann 2-1, Adam Smith 1-1, Evan Lincoln 0-1. Doubles—DP: Eric Katz/Ziyad Marcus 2-1, Jake Roberts/Caleb Franzen 2-1, Peter Shao/Mason Casady 1-2. SM: Travis Enholm/Parker Funk 3-0, Jackson Foster/Garrett Hazarian 0-3, Nik Kilpelainen/Garrett Timmons 1-2. Records—DP 5-5, 1-2; SM 8-3, 3-1.
