Walking onto enemy courts at Aragon High School on Thursday, April 17, the pressure was on for Burlingame’s boys’ tennis team. Both teams, tied for first with 9-1 Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) records, needed the win to solidify first place.
Ultimately, while the Panthers fought hard to take four matches to the ten-point super tiebreaker, they fell short, losing 6-1 and falling to second place in league play.
“It was a tough one to take, because we had it in us to win,” freshman Collin Phonsombat said.
The first time the Panthers played former league champion Aragon, they clinched the match 4-3, with all four wins going long to the third-set super tiebreaker. According to head coach Doug Stone, the boys had been on the winning end of tiebreakers all year, with Thursday’s match against Aragon being the exception.
“We’ve been on the opposite side of [super-tiebreakers] all year, we’ve been taking three of the four [super-tiebreakers], sometimes we took four of four… it came down to a matter of points,” Stone said.
Coming into the match, the boys knew a repeat win would be difficult. Last time, Aragon’s No. 1 singles player — indisputably the best player in the PAL — was absent. This time, with a powerhouse at the front of Aragon’s lineup, not only did the Panthers need to be on top of their game, they also needed some luck on their side.
At the start, the Dons had the edge, but the Panthers held on. While Burlingame was down a set at No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 singles and No. 1 doubles, they were up a set at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles and dominating 4-1 at No. 2 singles.
But soon, the Dons came roaring back. At No. 1 singles, recently promoted freshman Kaden Lam was struggling against the best player in the PAL. While Lam held his own in some rallies, he was grappling with a recent injury, and ultimately lost, putting the score at 0-1, Dons.
After winning the first set 6-4, the No. 3 doubles partners Collin Phonsombat and senior Donovan Ranta couldn’t hold onto their lead. They lost the second set 6-1, then lost the third-set super tiebreaker 10-6. Aragon was now up 2-0, and the remaining matches were tight.
“We were up pretty big, so it was tough,” Collin Phonsombat said. “But we still hope, because we were the second match to finish.”
Juniors Kieran Kilgo and Jake Druskin kept the chances of victory alive at No. 1 doubles. After losing the first set 6-2, Kilgo and Druskin claimed victory in the second, then carried their energy to the super-tiebreaker, clinching their match 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.
“I lost a lot of motivation after losing that first set,” Druskin said. “It was getting a few points in that second set and being like, ‘We can do this’. It was just that belief that we could fight; we’ve done it before. We’re gonna probably have to do it again. So that motivation was really just, I want to win. I want to go out there and I don’t want to stop.”
Kilgo and Druskin ultimately gave Burlingame their sole win, but in the moment, it didn’t seem that way. No. 4 singles sophomore Caleb Chou was fighting, making one of the best comebacks of the day. Loud cheers echoed down to the fourth court as he clinched a grueling win in the second set.
“He lost the first set badly, but came back and continued to fight. And I think that just really is a great example of this team all year,” Stone said. “Even in the matches that you know were easy, we always showed up, we always fought, we always stayed positive, even if we felt like we should be winning a match by a bigger margin than maybe even what we were.”
With his teammates counting on him, Chou readied himself for the third set. After several exhausting exchanges, he fell in the super tiebreaker, losing 0-6, 6-4, 8-10.
Though Burlingame was down 3-1 on the scoreboard, the outcome of the match was not set in stone with No. 2 and 3 singles and No. 2 doubles still on the court. The final decider of the match was at No. 3 singles: junior Alex Bozinovic, who held on for an hour and a half, fell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
At this point, the Panthers were down 1-3, and the Aragon only needed one more win to seal their victory. Still, most of the boys continued to cheer on the sidelines for seniors Nick Moshkovoy and Spencer Phonsombat at No. 2 doubles and junior Noah Chiang at No. 2 singles. Moshkovoy and Spencer Phonsombat had a heartbreaking end to their match, losing 7-5, 0-6, 11-13, while Chiang, who initially led the match 4-1 in the first set, rallied for nearly two and a half hours but lost 6-7(5), 4-6.
Despite the tough loss, the team will move forward and learn from the experience.
“Me personally, I’m gonna take it like it’s motivation,” Druskin said. “We’re going to keep going. We have to keep playing. It’s an unfortunate loss, never like that to happen. But the good news is we still have more matches to play, so we can keep moving forward. We’re gonna keep working hard.”
Though the league season is coming to an end, the team has solidified a spot in the PAL Team Tournament, where two teams out of the four competing — the top three teams in PAL Bay and the best team in the PAL Ocean — can qualify to play in the Central Coast Section playoffs. While the season is far from over, the thought is bittersweet for some seniors.
“Making these new connections, getting close to all these people, [and] making these friends has been awesome, and it’s for sure going to be the biggest thing that I’m going to miss,” Moshkovoy said. “[This team] is like everything you could really dream of: great team chemistry, catching dubs, everyone supporting each other. It’s awesome, it’s perfect.”
