Unseeded Survivors Face an Uphill Battle Against Well-Rested Top Players

The eight singles players--and the same number of doubles teams--who survived the first two rounds of the section tennis championships may think they’re halfway home, but the real battle is just beginning. The survivors must go up against the seeded players, who had a bye into the third round.

Unseeded singles players who emerged from the second round on Tuesday are: Adrian Cordoava of Bonita Vista, who defeated Mira Mesa’s Ed Cruz, 6-4, 6-1; Francis Parker’s Roger Ray, who beat La Jolla’s Jeff Bethard, 6-3, 6-1; German Aragon of St. Augustine, who defeated USDHS’s Joe Tontz, 6-1, 6-3; Sean Willette of Serra, who defeated Poway’s Jeff Alvarez, 6-3, 6-2; Bill Tontz of USDHS, who beat Vincent Memorial’s Victor Fimbres, 6-1, 6-3; Mike DeGuzman of Hilltop, who defeated Poway’s Oliver Davidian, 6-3, 6-3; Joe Barbarie of USDHS, who upset Mt. Carmel’s Bruce Tim, 4-6, 7-6, 6-0, and Paul Dysen of La Jolla, who beat San Pasqual’s Jeff Young, 6-1, 6-4.

Barbarie’s win over Tim can be termed an “upset” because Barbarie is a freshman and Tim, a senior, was Mount Carmel’s No. 2 player this year.

“Barbarie is the best freshman we’ve had in the school’s history,” said Paul Rubens, USDHS coach. “He beat Mt. Carmel’s No. 2 today and (Mt. Carmel) won the 3-A championship. So we’re real excited about that.”

That excitement, however, may wear off today as Barbarie faces Mount Carmel’s No. 1 player, Gene Carswell, who is seeded seventh.

Cordova faces the toughest challenge. He must go up against top-seed Marco Zuniga of St. Augustine.

In doubles, Mira Mesa’s Keith Bucky and Ramon Guillot had to temper their celebration of gaining entry into the third round. They must go up against the top-seeded duo of Pablo Zaragoza and Uliases Kyriakides from St. Augustine.

Other doubles tandems to advance are: Poway’s Don Weiner and Rick Spooner; Monte Vista’s Brian Epperson and Magnus Thelning; La Jolla Country Day’s Ray Savidge and Grame Gabriel; Poway’s Kevin Berry and Chad Basinger; San Pasqual’s Derek Main and James Crouch; Mt. Carmel’s Paul Mercado and Victor Gonzaga, and USDHS’ Chris Tontz and Rusty Tontz.