I-A TENNIS: Clark boys pick up third straight Southern Region title

Clarence Chun still remembers the days when he struggled to field a full boys tennis team at Clark.

Winning didn’t come easy less than a decade ago.

Now the veteran coach has more talented players than spots and three straight region titles to his credit.

Clark picked up its third consecutive Division I-A Southern Region title with a 12-6 win over The Meadows at Darling Tennis Center on Friday. Both teams advance to the state tournament, which begins Oct. 23 in Reno.

“It’s all the players,” said Chun, whose team won its 49th consecutive match. “They’re the ones who make the program, and in a way, they kind of spread the word. That’s a big key. You always lead by example.”

Clark (14-0) swept the nine doubles sets Friday and increased its lead after each round.

Chaitanya Ingle and Marcus Pasimio dropped just three games en route to a 3-0 mark in doubles. The teams of Christian Ong and Felix Zurhorst, and Justin Ong and Trevor Pearl also went 3-0.

Justin Ong and Pearl won a tiebreaker in their first set to give the Chargers an early 4-2 lead.

“That’s a team with a lot of heart,” Chun said. “They work so hard. All of our kids work so hard. They all contributed. Everyone contributed today.”

Michael Pasimio was 3-0 in singles for Clark, which is gunning for its third straight state title.

“You’re never 100 percent sure because things can happen,” Chun said. “With the players here, we have a really good chance.”

Kevin Chau, Matthew Lamb and Alex Lanzkowsky all went 2-1 in singles for The Meadows (12-3).

GIRLS

The last time Faith Lutheran met The Meadows in girls tennis, points had to be counted up to decide a tiebreaker, which the Crusaders won 33-30.

The teams went to a tiebreaker again Friday night in the Southern Region final at the Darling Tennis Center, but there was no need to tally the points as Faith Lutheran prevailed 5-1 in the extra session for a 10-9 win and the school’s first region championship.

“It’s great to be able to bring a regional championship home for Faith,” said fourth-year Crusaders coach Jeff Foley. “We’ve done a little better each year.

“It’s a great rivalry (with The Meadows). We know we’re going to have a great battle with them every time.”

Sophomore Madison Foley, Jeff’s daughter, and senior Kathleen Wright each went 3-0 in singles for Faith Lutheran, which finally beat the Mustangs in the postseason after losing to them in the region and state finals in each of the last two years.

“It’s a great honor because for the last two years we’ve been runner-up,” Wright said. “This year’s my senior year so it’s awesome to finish on that note.”

The teams were tied 3-3 after the first round, 6-6 after the second round and 9-9 after the third round to send the match to the tiebreaker, in which games were played to seven points, win by two.

“It’s a really big deal,” Madison Foley said. “This year, we’ve all been working really hard, and it paid off.”