No tears over Eagles’ loss in quarters

COSTA MESA ? The members of the Cate School boys’ tennis team stood and stared quietly at the surrounding tennis courts.

Conversely, Estancia’s squad was loud and boisterous. The Eagles displayed smiles all around to accompany the chatter. After posing for a photo, the Eagles each dumped water on Coach Rachel De Los Santos.

Cate had just wrapped up the CIF Southern Section Division V quarterfinal match, winning, 13-5, Tuesday at Mesa Verde Country Club, but the Eagles hardly looked like dejected losers.

Estancia had accomplished each goal it set out to conquer this season. It was the first time the Eagles had landed in the quarterfinals in at least 10 years. De Los Santos, soaking wet, said the program’s progress is making far outweighed the outcome of a single match.

“Our goal was first to make it to CIF. We hadn’t made it past the first round since I’ve been here,” said the sixth-year coach. “To make it to the quarters is huge. Win or lose, I was proud of the team for making it this far.

“It may not show in the scores, but everyone played their best tennis today. They went into this playing the No. 1 seed and they are number one for a reason.”

The day started with a loss for senior and No. 1 singles player Scott Braunsdorf, as the heat and nerves had an effect on him. It finished with two decisive victories and the pleasure of knowing his senior year was vastly different than his freshman, even though he was his team’s top singles player in both.

“It’s a good way to end it, against the best team,” Braunsdorf said. “My freshman year was not that great. As the years went on, we kept getting better and better.”

The season highlight for Braunsdorf was a team goal from the beginning. A few weeks earlier, as the team van pulled away from Santa Ana High with a victory to complete an undefeated season in league, the realization of a Golden West League championship began to set in.

His career with the Eagles nearly over, Braunsdorf will move on to the CIF individual playoffs. He said he hopes to accomplish his goal of making it past the first round.

“It will be fun,” he said. “It’s always a good time.”

De Los Santos will also lose her No. 2 doubles team of Chris Alvergue and Benny Edles, but said she feels her team can still be competitive when it moves to the Orange Coast League.

Sophomore Bradley Fisher is set to return and will fill the No. 1 singles slot. The final two singles spots will be inherited by the current No. 1 doubles team of Danny O’Neil and Ely Zaidler, both freshmen.

“We’ll have deep singles,” De Los Santos said. “We have a chance to make it to the playoffs.”

Following his final high school match, Alvergue was not feeling down. He figured the best way to celebrate would be to collectively dumping water on De Los Santos.

“It’s kind of like a ritual,” Alvergue said. “You see it in the movies all the time. You have got to dump water on the coach. Everybody was all for it.”

Despite the loss, Alvergue said he and teammate Edles once again made the most out of their time on the court.

“We had fun. We try to do the best we can. We’ve got to joke around,” said Alvergue, who was undefeated in league play when teamed up with Edles. “You play the game the best you can. That’s what I say. There’s no broken hearts here.”