Crescenta Valley boys’ tennis sends group to league semifinals
BURBANK — Separated by a few feet and a chain-link fence during their matches at Burroughs High, Kevin Rowe, Justin Kim and Maclean Lunt had to overcome some tall tasks during the second round of the Pacific League Tournament on Monday.
There was plenty of suspense for the Crescenta Valley High boys’ tennis players. Rowe was involved in a tight second-round singles match, while Kim and Lunt were facing the same situation in doubles.
The trio held its own, as fourth-seeded Rowe posted a 2-6, 7-5, 10-7 win against fifth-seeded Kendric Marcy of Burroughs and fourth-seeded Kim and Lunt turned back fifth-seeded Ethan Lee and Sid Denduluri of Burbank, 7-5, 2-6, 15-13, to advance to the semifinals at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the same site.
Rowe will meet top-seeded Hellman Zhao of Arcadia in a semifinal contest. Kim and Lunt will take on top-seeded Jun Nakamine and Nicholas Figueira of Arcadia in a semifinal match.
The other singles semifinal will feature second-seeded Vincent Leong of Arcadia against third-seeded Matthew Feng of Arcadia and the other doubles semifinal contest will pit second-seeded Herman Sham and Michael Gu of Arcadia versus sixth-seeded Bradford Yau and Jonathan Figueira of Arcadia. The finals will take place following the semifinals.
“It was scary out there and you just had to find a way to survive,” said Rowe, a former All-Area pick who improved to 1-2 against Marcy this season. “It was a very close match and my confidence continued to grow in the tiebreaker.
“Kendric has such a unique style of play and you have to find a way to play your game. It was definitely exciting playing him.”
Rowe began the day with a 6-2, 6-2 win against 13th seed Harout Abgaryan of Burbank.
There was similar excitement on the other side of the fence for Kim and Lunt.
“They adjusted well when they needed to,” Crescenta Valley coach Sam Hyun said. “Their effort paid off today.
“It’s a solid win for Justin and Mclean. It will definitely help their confidence.”
Kim and Lunt started with a 6-2, 6-3 win versus 13th seed Ruben Grigoryan and Richard Mirzoain of Glendale.
Glendale freshman Marko Ratkovic also turned in an impressive effort Monday. Ratkovic, the seventh seed, began with a 6-4, 6-3 win versus 10th seed Nathan Soria of Burbank before losing to Leong, 6-4, 6-4.
“It’s some very good experience for Marko,” Glendale first-year coach Connor Fulgham said. “He held his own against some tough competition and it’s going to help him looking ahead.”
Erik Babayan of Crescenta Valley was the other local singles player to advance to the second round. Babyan, at No. 6, earned a 6-3, 6-1 win against 11th seed Cody Bowlin of Pasadena before falling, 6-0, 6-2, to Feng.
Elsewhere in first-round singles matches, eighth seed Samuel Bernardy of Burroughs defeated ninth seed Carlos Vicencio of Crescenta Valley, 3-6, 6-3, 10-7, and Marcy beat 12th seed Vahe Halebian of Hoover, 6-0, 6-0.
In doubles, eighth seed Adi Saravanan and Patrick Chmielewski of Crescenta Valley bested ninth seed Daniel Cho and Rafael Munguia of Burroughs, 6-3, 6-0. The duo then fell, 6-0, 6-1, to Nakamine and Figueira. Seventh seed Darren Kim and Edward Ahn of Crescenta Valley notched a 6-2, 6-1 win versus 10th seed Parker Katz and Dominik Sumera of Burbank before falling to Sham and Gu, 6-1, 6-1.
Hoover’s Nazar Makadsi and George Sakellariou, the 14th seed, were defeated, 6-1, 6-0, by James Lee and Luciano Dapuetto of Burbank. Sixteen seed Augustine Jun and David Chung of Crescenta Valley lost, 6-0, 6-0, to Nakamine and Figueira in the first round.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
