San Marcos’ boys tennis team returned from a two-week break from match play and produced a 12-6 non-league victory over Cate on Wednesday.
Lars Scannell swept three sets at No. 1 singles for the Royals 6-2, 6-1 and 6-0. Two more sweeps in doubles by Dan Coulson/Oliver Piltch and Christo Anderson/Cody Krueger gave San Marcos, who was playing without top player Kento Perrera, the overall advantage. The Royals consistently beat the Rams 4-2 in each round.
Cate, also missing one of its top players in Jason Xiao, was led by singles players Kevin Ha and Christian Herman, each who went 2-1.
“In the two weeks since our last match, we improved our focus and mistake response,” said Royals head coach Jarrod Bradley. “Our doubles team communicated loudly and played great shots all day long. One of the best was a Nick Leeds forehand down the middle against two Cate players who approached the net. We seem to be gaining confidence every day and I know our guys are looking forward to the second round of league.”
Sebastian Gutierrez played his first doubles match of the season with Leeds as his partner. They won two of three sets together.
“It was great to finally see Sebastian in action today and he responded with great serves and consistent backhands,” Bradley said. “He and Nick played well together, especially when Nick was at the net poaching aggressively. It will be fun to see them play more together.”
San Marcos’ next match is a Channel League match on Tuesday against Ventura.
San Marcos 12
Lars Scannell 3-0
Derek Tilton 1-2
Anthony Burre 0-3
Daniel Coulson-Oliver Piltch 3-0
Christo Anderson-Cody Krueger 3-0
Nicholas Leeds-Sebastian Gutierrez 2-1
Cate 6
Kevin Ha 2-1
Christian Herman 2-1
Adesh Sehani 1-2
Edward Cho-Michael Nettesheim 1-2
Trey Jackson-Jacob Farmer 0-3
Mason Mackall-Joseph Thomassen 0-3
