La Cañada boys’ tennis breezes to victory
In the strange world of Rio Hondo League boys’ tennis, La Cañada High found itself in another laugher.
This season, there are no balanced matches.
The Spartans are either overmatched against reigning league champion San Marino, the CIF Southern Section Division I No. 5-ranked team, or they’re the bully against the rest of the league.
It took only two rounds for La Cañada to insert its subs Friday afternoon as the Spartans rolled to a 12-6 victory over host Temple City.
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The win improved the Spartans’ record to 9-2 and 5-1 in league and keeps La Cañada in contention for a league crown with San Marino when both teams face off on Tuesday.
The Spartans lost to the Titans, 16-2, in the teams’ first meeting on April 7, but have defeated the other four squads in league by a combined score of 79-11.
“It’s kind of like college football, where your league is your league,” La Cañada Coach Will Moravec said. “We just play whoever’s on our schedule and it’s all about getting ready for CIF.”
La Cañada was dominant in doubles play as the Spartans finished 8-1 with its top two doubles team combining to go 5-0.
The Spartans No. 1 squad of Phillip and William Lan picked up wins of 6-3 and 6-2 before being taken out in favor of John Moore and Charles Lea. Moore and Lea didn’t waste their opportunity to shine in winning their set, 6-1.
“When I came into this match, I was confident and I think the whole team was,” Phillip Lan said. “You just want to come in and do your best regardless of who you play.”
La Cañada juniors Ian and Nick Lee, the Spartans’ No. 2 team, finished 3-0 and began with two victories of 6-2.
In the finale, the Lee brothers outlasted Temple City’s No. 1 duo of Spencer Chen and Regis Lee in a thriller, 7-6 (8-6).
La Cañada’s No. 3 doubles squad of Gabriel and Gerald Llanes also went 2-0 with wins of 6-2, 6-1 before being subbed out.
On the singles side, La Cañada defaulted on four of nine matches when the game’s outcome was no longer in question and finished 4-5.
La Cañada’s No. 1 singles player Alec Robertson won his two matches by scores of 6-1, while No.2 player Reid Schreck was also unbeaten at 6-2, 6-0.
“The importance of these matches is focus,” Schreck said. “You can’t expect to go into San Marino and get a favorable result if you’re not going to go into every match trying to do your best. If you play hard against every opponent, it’s hard to have a letdown.”
Twitter: @campadresports
