Van Nuys, Kennedy Eliminated in Tennis

The Van Nuys and Kennedy high boys’ tennis teams were eliminated from the City Section 3-A Division semifinals Tuesday at the Racquet Centre of Universal City.

Top-seeded Van Nuys was upset by Marshall, 16 1/2-13. Kennedy was defeated by Eagle Rock, 22 1/2-7.

“We thought we had a good chance going in,” said Van Nuys junior Won Hur, the Wolves’ No. 3 singles player. “But we just didn’t come through. They were tougher on singles.”

Hur recorded Van Nuys’ only victory in 16 singles matches, a 6-4 win over Chris Soong. Hur dropped matches to Arthur Tombakian, 6-0; Diego Raggio, 6-3; and Sebastian Albeliass, 6-3.

Van Nuys (14-2) recorded victories in eight of nine doubles matches. The teams of Young Lee and Albert Kang and Chanh Lamb and Geon Byun each swept three doubles matches.

Eagle Rock (16-0) recorded victories in 12 of 16 singles matches and seven of nine doubles matches against Kennedy (8-7).

Kennedy’s bright spot was senior Rees Gould, who was 4-0 in singles. Gould defeated Jorge Rivera, 6-1; Justin Taylor, 6-1; Scott Joe, 6-0; and Marcus Tanioto, 6-0. Rees was 12-2 in match play during the playoffs.

“We came a lot further than I thought we would,” Kennedy Coach Craig Raub said. “We played good enough to get to this point, but we weren’t good enough to take on Eagle Rock.”