Mustang tennis tops rival Live Oak, 4-3, to finish off T-CAL
season
GILROY – Senior Scott Adams knew he was playing the final match of his high school tennis career in the No. 3 doubles position with first-time partner Ryan McBrearty.
Adding to the special occasion was the fact that the Mustangs’ final regular-season match-up was against none-other than neighboring rival Live Oak – which also defeated Gilroy the last time around to even the series at one win apiece.
So in Thursday’s grudge match, Adams walked off the Gilroy High courts a winner – not only beating Live Oak’s duo of Rob Ferrando and Jacob Haim but also clinching the match for Gilroy in its 4-3 home victory.
“It feels pretty good,” said Adams, who has two younger brothers freshman Scott and sophomore Peter also in the starting line-up.
McBrearty – an underclassmen who will return next season – was equally as satisfied with winning the clincher.
“We were ready,” McBrearty said. “We knew we needed to win because second place was on the line. We knew this would give us a better chance in the standings.”
Five other senior Mustangs played in their final T-CAL bout – but will also have a chance to battle it out in Friday’s league championships at Ridgemark in Hollister before whisking off to graduation.
But senior No. 3 man Jacob Pniewski was the only one to win – cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Live Oak’s Ryan Alexander.
“I was hitting crisper shots and I wasn’t getting as upset really,” Pniewski said. “The past few weeks my attitudes been better. Tuesday’s comeback win (over Salinas) really helped me out.”
Senior top singles Robbie Marques – who was a force throughout the league season and Gilroy’s best shot at T-CALs – dropped a tough 1-6, 4-6 match to Acorns’ No. 1 Dave Lucarelli-Cowles.
In the No. 2 singles spot, senior Mark Heisy faltered in three sets to Live Oak’s Nick Matsumoto, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6.
Gilroy’s dynamic duo of top seniors Tomas Carrillo and Ray Rivera also came up short-handed in the No. 1 doubles spot – falling to Acorns’ Nick Cotta and Chris Zaskodi, 6-7, 3-6.
But the Mustangs received critical wins via junior No. 4 singles Mark Hseish (who topped Acorns’ Kavon Kanvohian, 6-1, 6-1) and the No. 2 doubles tandem of Anthony Christian and Peter Adams (who made short work of Live Oak’s Tad Christopher and Casey McElroy by the same result.
“We were just trying to get our first serves in and play consistently,” Peter Adams said. “Our serves were working pretty well.”
This will be the first league finals for both P. Adams as well as his partner, Christian.
“We’re doing really well together,” Christian said. “We’re playing at our best for the whole season right now.”
The Mustangs are also hoping to earn a CCS playoff spot for the second straight season under Coach Yoder in as many years.
“The guys all played well. We definitely played a little better today than the last time we played them,” said second-year head coach Chris Yoder of his squad that finished 12-3 in league and 13-4 overall. “We were excited to get it done and it’s good for their confidence (going into T-CALs).”
