Walnut ousts Sage Hill
WALNUT — After about 210 minutes of white-knuckle warfare, the end came quickly for visiting Sage Hill School boys’ tennis team Friday.
In less than the time it took to walk from the middle of the three singles courts to the last of the three adjacent, sequentially placed doubles courts, a potential deadlock that would have been decided on games became a 10-8 victory for Walnut in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs.
The Lightning (14-5) trailed, 4-2, in sets after the opening round and were down, 7-5, entering the final six matches. But a pair of singles wins knotted things at 7-7. Things were square at 8-8, with Sage’s No. 3 doubles tandem of Grant Janavs and Noah Koumas tied, 4-4, in their final set, and the Mustangs owning a big lead in the final singles match.
Walnut closed out that final singles set to take a 9-8 lead and merely a minute later, a loud cheer rang out from the blue-and-black-clad Walnut players lining the far doubles court, celebrating a clinching 6-4 set victory.
By then, even a Lightning win in the doubles finale would not have left them with enough games to prevail.
Sage’s No. 1 doubles team of freshman Josh Watkins and junior Zach Washer, swept, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3, to lead the Lightning, while junior Adam Langevin won two sets at No. 1 singles.
Walnut’s Ryan Wong swept at No. 1 singles for the winners (20-1), who advance to the quarterfinals.
Sage first-year coach Mark Watkins praised his No. 1 doubles and singles players, while also giving credit to the Mustangs, ranked No. 7 in the final Division 2 poll (three spots ahead of Sage) for being just a bit better as a team.
“Zach Washer is a transfer [from Laguna Beach High], so he was not eligible until April 4,” said Mark Watkins, the father of Josh Watkins. “We paired them early in the season. We took them up to Ojai to give them experience and they competed well all season. I feel like what they did today was a result of that growth and that experience, through hard times and good times. They played really well as a team today.
“And [Langevin] has been consistent for us throughout and also has provided great leadership.
“We did not have an answer for Ryan Wong, who I thought played outstanding tennis,” Mark Watkins said. “My hat’s off to him. He’s a great athlete and a great tennis player. But everywhere else, I thought we were very competitive. There were a lot of tight sets and some of them could have gone either way.”
Sage freshman Steven Ferry defeated Brandon Wong in a No. 2 singles battle, 6-1, and Lightning senior captain and No. 3 singles player Kenan Torlic came through with a 6-4 triumph over substitute Jimmy Zheng in the third round to help keep things suspenseful.
Walnut used a different No. 2 singles player in each of the three rounds.
Langevin’s two triumphs were by margins of 6-1 and 6-2.
Sophomores Will Sanderson and Ian Huang, playing No. 2 doubles for the visitors, posted a 6-2 second-round victory.
Sage freshman Emin Torlic, a consistent factor in the lineup all season, did not play. He was traveling to a junior tournament, Mark Watkins said.
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Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
