The boys tennis’ team lost 10-8 to perennial powerhouse and arch-rival Peninsula on April 19. The previously undefeated squad now sits at 14-1 overall. Although the loss was upsetting, the boys say they had an off day and remain confident in their ability to win a CIF championship.
The best way to fully understand what led to this stunning defeat is to see the loss through the eyes of captain Jed Kronenberg ’17 himself.
“Basically we lost 10-8,” Kronenberg said. “ Our lineup was one, Adam Sraberg ’17. Two, David Arkow ’20. Three, Stanley Morris’ 18 , 1. Me and Timothy Lee ’20. Two, Sacha Pritzker ’18 and Kenneth Lee ’19. Three, Jacob Tucker ’17 and Jonah Dickinson ’20. The plan was to win at least three singles and at least six doubles, so that worst case scenario was we won 9-9. However, our doubles did not perform as well as we thought they would. Timo and I swept easily, but Tucker and Jonah, and Sacha and Kenny both only won one each so we only got five in doubles. Then, in singles, Adam won one out of three only beating the other team’s three, and Morris won two out of three beating the other team’s two and three. Arkow got swept.”
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Coach Chris Simpson had meticulously planned out every match, but Kronenberg reminded us that there are certain intangibles to every game that can never be fully accounted for.
“First two rounds were three-three, so it was six-six in matches going into the last round of 6 matches,” Kronenberg said. “The last round started with me and Timo winning 6-0, and Sacha and Kenny winning 6-0, so we were up 8-6, but then Tucker and Jonah lost 6-0 as well so it was back to 8-7. Stanley lost too so it was 8-8 but Stanley wasn’t expected to win at all. Finally, it all came down to David Arkow against the other team’s three and Adam against the other team’s two. David was up 3-1, and Adam was up 5-3, but they both were unable to pull out a win so we ended up losing the last two matches 10-8.
Although today’s loss was a disappointment, Kronenberg remains confident in his team’s abilities.
“Basically, we had tons of chances to win and should’ve won, but we didn’t win in the end. The good thing about this is that we know we are capable for sure of winning CIF and we will be ready to play them when we do in playoffs, probably in the championship,” Kronenberg said. “Even with a really poor doubles day and some nerves, we had the match in our hands.
The squad will take on cross town rival Loyola on Monday.
