Boys’ Tennis: Sailors banged up, but win
Serving underhand in tennis is either due to disrespect or injury, and it was definitely the latter on Tuesday for Newport Harbor High senior Mark Schaefer.
Schaefer injured his right shoulder last Friday in practice. Hitting forehands still causes him pain, he said, and the underhand serve was a necessity in Tuesday’s key Sunset League match at Fountain Valley.
Still, there was no way that Schaefer wanted to miss the match. And of course, Schaefer and senior doubles partner Sam Leaman were the last set still on court. Schaefer had to serve it out at 6-5, underhand, against Fountain Valley’s Tommy Trinh and Eric Tadros.
With everyone watching, he seemed a bit rattled at the start, mistakenly calling out “love-15” before the first point of the game. But things got easier from there.
Schaefer held serve, and the Sailors won the set and the match, 10-8.
It was a big upset win for the Sailors (11-3, 3-1 in league), who handed Fountain Valley (7-5, 3-1), ranked No. 9 in Orange County by the Register, its first league loss.
Schaefer and Leaman swept, 6-1, 6-1, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles for Newport Harbor.
“We kind of just adapted,” Schaefer said. “We changed up our game a little bit, whatever would get us the win. I can’t hit forehands without a little pain, so every shot was for the team.”
Sailors freshman Max McKennon also stood out, earning the “triple bagel” (three 6-0 sets) at No. 1 singles.
The Sailors were forced to play usual singles standout David Lee in doubles due to a nagging ankle injury, and senior doubles player David Sharp has been battling sickness. Still, Newport Harbor found a way to beat the Barons.
“This is a huge win,” Leaman said. “We don’t like talking about rankings, but they’re No. [9] in the county. We don’t think about the numbers, but still, it’s all about sending a message. Mark grinding it out just showed that we came to play. We’re going to battle every single point, every single rally.”
The teams are tied for second in the league with one match remaining in the first half of league. The difference is that Newport Harbor plays host to Huntington Beach on Thursday, while Fountain Valley must face league leading Los Alamitos, the defending champion.
The Sailors won seven of nine doubles sets against the Barons, including a close one in the first round. At No. 3 doubles, Lee and Cory Smith beat Trinh and Tadros, 6-4. As members of the Newport Harbor girls’ tennis team supported and watched the match, the Sailors took a 4-2 sets advantage after the first round.
“Great match, everybody played great,” Fountain Valley Coach Harshul Patel said. “Two close matches, 4-6 and 5-7, that could have gone either way. That would have made a big difference. It’s 8-10 versus 10-8 [at the end of the match].
“Doubles, we only won two [sets] today. Usually, we’ve been going 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, in doubles. We had a lot of opportunities, but credit goes to Newport. They played the key points right ... [and] we played very tight.”
Newport Harbor took a 7-5 advantage after two rounds, and had enough of a lead on games to clinch the match after McKennon quickly won his last set, plus Lee and Smith also won in doubles. Still, though the Sailors didn’t need Schaefer and Leaman’s last win to take the match, they provided the heroics.
Sharp and Andy Myers won twice in doubles for the Sailors, while Julian Hernandez and Ace Thayer battled against the Barons’ strong singles lineup.
Justin Pham, a junior transfer from Westminster who was the two-time Golden West League singles champion, made his season debut for Fountain Valley and easily won twice at No. 1 singles. Freshman Ryan Trinh and sophomore Justin Nguyen also both won twice in singles for the hosts. The No. 1 doubles team for the Barons was most successful, as Vivek Savsani and Jonathan Dang won twice.
The Sailors definitely didn’t come into the match totally healthy, but that seemed to just make the win even sweeter.
“It’s amazing the heart that our kids have,” Newport Coach Kristen Case said. “None of them were going to bow out and not step on the court today ... I know [Schaefer’s] pain level is very high right now, and he’s just continuing to grind through it for his teammates. All of these guys are such phenomenal team players.
“We didn’t come in 100%, however, you really wouldn’t have known watching the match. It’s impressive. I’m so proud of them. I really feel lucky to be their coach. They will do anything for each other, and it showed today.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
