By Ben Goldstein
The boysâ varsity tennis teamâs five-year-old, 100-match regular season win streak came to an end two weeks ago, and the squad didnât waste much time losing again. After reaching this historic milestone, the Wolverines lost three times in the span of one week.
The team, which is 11-4 overall and 6-0 in league play, trounced Crespi 17-1 on April 8 for its 100th consecutive regular season victory. The next day, the streak came to a halt with a 7-11 home loss to Santa Barbara, a squad ranked second in CIF Division I.
âThe Santa Barbara match was a learning experience for the team because it was the first top-tier team that weâve played,â team captain Mark Seraydarian said. âNow we know what the competition is going to be like when we go down to the wire towards the end of the season.â
The Wolverines regained some ground after their first loss with a win over league rival Loyola the next day. But they were unable to put together another win streak, as they lost to Beverly Hills, defeated St. Francis, lost to University Irvine and defeated Notre Dame in the following days.
Although the team, now ranked third in CIF Division I, has fallen into a bit of a slump, its competition has been top-notch. University Irvine is ranked first in CIF Division I and Beverly Hills is the top-ranked squad in Division III.
The Wolverines were missing their number two doubles team Alex Wittenberg â08 and Andrew Smith â08 in the 8-10 loss to Beverly Hills, which players say was a large factor in the close match.
âThe coaches are kind of angry,â Chris Kenney â10, who is on the number one doubles team with Seraydarian, said. âThey said we need to take more pride and fight the entire time weâre down. The coaches said 40 percent of the people are doing that but the other 60 percent arenât doing that.â
The team lost for a fourth time this past Monday to fifth-ranked Peninsula on the road 10-8.
Throughout this tough stretch, Ryan Thacher â08 has been a steady presence for the team.
Thacher, ranked first in the United States Tennis Association Boysâ 18 Singles rankings, was featured on the cover of this monthâs issue of RISE Magazine, which covers high school athletics across the country.
The team faced Chaminade yesterday and select players will compete in the Ojai Tournament starting tomorrow.
Head coach Chris Simpson does not let the teamâs recent rough patch overshadow the impressive accomplishment of 100 straight victories.
âOne hundred wins is five years of dedication, hard work, and pure pride to play for the school traveling all over California to win them. No team will achieve that in Division I tennis for a long, long time so we are all proud of the achievement this season,â he said.