“A recap of recent St. Augustine tennis seasons will give a bit of flavor as we look ahead to a successful 2009/2010 season:
2007 was a great season for the St’s tennis team but also featured 8 seniors in the top 12 players so as we entered 2008 we weren’t sure of exactly how the players moving up from the junior varsity would perform at the next level. 2008 turned out to be as good as the strong 2007 squad and since we had only 1 senior graduating, the 2009 season was highly anticipated. During the pre-season practices, we set out a few tangible and objective goals.
Among the goals set by the team:
– Finish at least 3rd in the extremely competitive Western League
– With a strong team expected, the non-league schedule was strengthened to add more road matches against CIF level teams. The goal was to have a winning record as a team (this takes into account the fact that our schedule included 6 matches against teams that ended up in the Finals of CIF
– Earn multiple seedings for St’s individuals and doubles teams at the Western League Finals
– For the 1st time in over 12 years, send individuals to San Diego CIF Finals at Barnes Tennis Center
Looking at the year in review, I am happy to report that in all measurable ways, the 2009 St’s tennis season met our high expectations and was the most successful in well over 10 years! Despite losing 5 matches by the excruciatingly close score of 10-8 (all loses were to teams that qualified for CIF competition), our team ended up in 3rd place in the Western League. This represents continual improvement as only 7 years ago we were in 6th place. By defeating Scripps Ranch, University City and Coronado twice each, St’s is proving that we can become successful through the development of a strong JV program.
Our season can be partially defined by some close losses we had against top level competition on the road:
We lost twice at Steele Canyon by scores of 9-9 and 10-8 but Steele Canyon was a perfect 20-0 until they lost in the Finals of CIF Division II to Point Loma. We lost 10-8 at Bishops and 10-8 at San Dieguito (both of whom were CIF quarterfinalists).
Victories we pulled off were even more clear proof of our improvement as a team:
We defeated Scripps Ranch at their place 12-6; beat CIF D2 quarterfinalist Valhalla twice at their place; beat CIF quarterfinalist San Marcos 12-6 at home, beat University City 17-1 and 18-0 and then in the 1st round of CIF were sent to the 17-1 league champion Central Valley and beat them on a 100 degree El Centro day by a score of 10-5.
Be having such a great season, we accomplished our team goals that we set out at the beginning of the year and this also led to us earning many distinctions for our individual players. In league finals, both Nick Yap (#7 seed) and Genaro Favela (#9) seed were ranked for the singles completion and the doubles team of Jon Young with Alex Chacon earned the #3 seed. In the past 10 years, we have never had more than 1 individual seeded in a year and never earned higher than a #8 seed so this was a clear acknowledgement of the strides our team made this year. Jon Young/Alex Chacon made it to the semi-finals of the Western League tournament and thus earned a berth in the San Diego CIF Finals at Barnes Tennis Center, the first such honor at Saints in over 12 years. After winning their first match against a team from perennial power Torrey Pines, they lost 6-4, 6-3 in a tight match, concluding the best tennis season at Saints in many years.
As we go to the 2010 season, instead of expecting a ‘rebuilding season’ with the losses of 7 varsity letterman, including 2 of our 3 top singles players, we are in a similar phase that we were in heading into the 2008 season in which players were given opportunities and stepped up showing the strength and depth of the program. Returning letterman will provide experience and stability as 3 year letterman and team Co-Captain Miguel Acosta will lead the singles line-up, followed by incoming freshman Luis Miranda who enters Saints as the most accomplished junior tennis player through USTA events in well over 12 years. The 3rd singles player will be determined through qualification but figures to be a combination of senior 3 year letterman Alex Kinstle and junior 3 year letterman Jon Young with several other competitors attempting to earn some singles match play. The doubles teams will be anchored by the #1 team of Jon Young and Alex Chacon who, as stated above, were the 1st St’s tennis members in over 12 years to represent us at San Diego CIF last June. As the Western League #3 seeded team last year, their goals are even loftier this year: dominate matches consistently throughout the season, attain the #1 league seeding and advance several rounds in the CIF competition. Other doubles teams will be led by returning lettermen senior Co-Captain Scott Briggs and senior Trevor Hopkins. The rest of the varsity spots are open to returning junior varsity players who have made large improvements over the past year: juniors Michael Ebeling and Jake Gilbert figure to challenge sophomores Andrew Vazquez, Connor Keefe, Neil Rens, Aaron Martinez, Jason Yudiono, Raul Pareyon, Ryan Tweed, Zach Blodgett, and Alex Miyai for about 4 varsity positions.
Our home matches will be held at Morley Field and most start around 3pm – all guests and Saints backers are welcome to attend so come out and support the tennis team as we get ready for another super season on the courts. Coach Isaak”
