Saratoga News

Sports

Falcons win second Central Cal tourney title

By Dick Sparrer

It's difficult enough to win a championship once, but to repeat?

Tough as it may be, though, that's just what the Saratoga boys tennis team did last weekend at the 14th annual Central California Championships held in Fresno. The Falcons edged Jesuit-Sacramento to win a second straight crown in the prestigious high school tournament.

Saratoga opened the tourney with a 5-2 win over Bullard, then blanked Tamalpais 7-0. Coach Kevin White's Falcons handled local rival Los Altos 5-2 in the semifinals, then wrapped up the tourney title with the win over Jesuit.

The talented duo of junior Emerson Lin and senior Abhinav Dev cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles to lead the Falcons to the win over Jesuit in the finals. Lin and Dev won three of their four matches in the tournament. There only loss came in the tourney opener against Bullard when they lost on a tiebreaker after three sets.

Senior Jeff Gast rolled 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to start the Falcons on the road to the 5-2 win over Bullard in first match.

Gast won 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 and Dev and Lin combined for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win in the 7-0 victory over Tamalpais in the semifinals.

It was a 6-3, 6-2 win by Dev and Lin at No. 1 doubles that sparked the Falcons to the 5-2 win over Los Altos in the semi's.

There were 88 teams from throughout the state competing in the two-day tournament with matches played at 15 sites in Fresno and nearby Clovis.

The Falcons are off to a 4-0 start in the 2007 season after posting a 20-1 record last year that included 12 wins and a championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Saratoga finished second to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the Central Coast Section Division II finals.