The MCP Men's Tennis team played an amazing CIF Championship match on Wednesday, but came up just a little bit short - 4 to 5.
Easton Weir, Nick Loughead, and Zach Schroeder won their singles matches. The team all tied up after singles MCP 3 and Kingsburg 3 going into doubles.
Kingsburg won with their #1 doubles team and MCP won with their #3 doubles team (Donovan Foss and Diego Pasquera)
SO it’s all tied up MCP 4 and Kingsburg 4 heading into the final match. It all comes down to the #2 doubles team of Rod Burnette and Zach Schroeder.
They lost the first set and were down 1-5 in the second set. It was all but over, until the boys clawed their way back and tied the score 6-6. They crushed the tie breaker 7-2 and won the second set.
Since they split the two sets, they play a super tie breaker to decide the match. First to 10 points - but must win 2.
Zach and Rod go down quick 2-9 - Kingsburg has 7 match points to win the whole thing. Rod and Zach with their backs to the wall - win 8 straight points in a row. So now the score is 10- 9 - MCP has a match point to win the whole thing. Kingsburg gets the next point - so its 10-10. MCP gest the next point so its 11-10. MCP has a match point to win the whole thing. Kingsburg wins the next three points and win it all 11-13!!!!!
It was the most amazing high school tennis match the MCP coaches have ever seen. The Kingsburg coach has been coaching for 20 years and he said the same thing. The crowd was amazing - it was like being at packed basketball game it was so loud!!
Although the MCP coaches are sad for our boys to not get the victory, they are so happy for them to have had this experience. It was fierce competition at highest level with great sportsmanship on both sides. It is what high school sports is all about.
Big shout out to Eli Marsaleck - as the #9 player - does not get in many matches but he cheers and supports is teammates louder than anybody and is an incredible asset to the team. During the match, he had to come out and be a line judge in two different matches. The MCP coaches could not think of anybody that is more suited for this important roll. His character and focus are beyond reproach!!
Big shout out to volunteer Coach Dr. Schmoll from Head Coach Mr. Krossa, “Thank you for all your help and insight this year. You were amazing!!”
If you get a chance, please congratulate the MCP Men’s Tennis team on an amazing season and an incredible match. Team members are: Easton Wier, Rod Burnette, Nick Loughead, Dom Garner, Zach Schroeder, Peter Llaurado, Donovan Foss, Diego Pasquera, and Eli Marsaleck.