Laguna Blanca Boys’ Tennis Ends 7-Year Drought

Today, for the first time since 2004, the Laguna Blanca Boys’ Tennis Team defeated the Thacher School in a very close match. Troy Ritter (Thorpe Tennis) swept his singles matches and the doubles duo of Alex Greer and Alex Shirokow-Louden (both also from Thorpe Tennis) won all three in doubles.

However, the day was not won without a battle. Justin Shand (Thorpe Tennis) and senior Ian Carradine took a win at number three doubles, but after losing two close sets in tie-breakers, the score was 3-3 through the first round. In the second round, Laguna and Thacher again traded blows, ending deadlocked at 6-6 after two rounds.

Laguna came out swinging in the final round, with Benji Sorensen and Tristan Prinz (Thorpe Tennis, pictured above) collecting quick wins in singles, and the doubles combinations of Alex Greer/ Alex Shirokow-Louden (pictured left) and Ben Furukawa/Eddie Conk (all from Thorpe Tennis) picking up the tie and go-ahead wins in doubles.

With a final score of 11-7, the Owls ended an 11-match, 7-year losing streak against Thacher, and took an important step towards it’s season goals. The first of two goals was to finish the season with a winning record, which is now guaranteed. The second goal is to reach the playoffs, which is still possible if Laguna pulls out the upset at Dunn this coming Wednesday.

For now though, I am so very proud of the players I work with privately at Thorpe Tennis and the rest of the guys on the team for their excellent performance today. Big thanks are also due to the players’ parents, without whose support none of this would be possible. Look out Condor League, there’s a new team in town!