Boys' tennis loses to Palm Desert in CIF finals, still satisfied with season

Gregory BoehmStaff WriterThe boys’ tennis team huddled together chanting “Four down, one to go!” after winning their California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) semifinals match 12-6 against Esperanza High School on Tuesday, May 22. Samo then went on to lose that last round 13-5 against Palm Desert High School.Despite their ultimate loss, boys’ tennis had a successful season. The team went undefeated in Ocean League and soared through their CIF competition. After defeating El Dorado High School on Tuesday,  May 15,  boys’ tennis advanced to the semi-final round of team CIF. The team started out rough in the semifinals losing 4-3 at the end of the first round. In the  second round CIF doubles, the squad was able to gain a lead of 7-5. According to coach Wilston Poon, the singles struggled in the beginning, but were able to work together to pick up the slack towards the end.“First round I didn’t play so well, so then I had to step up with my partner Will who played really well and we won the next two matches,” senior co-captain Zachary Resnick said.Regardless of any rough starts, Samo pulled through and was able to win the semifinal match 12-6 and move on to the next and final round of team CIF. Samo was then in the same exact position as it was last year: facing CIF finals against Palm Desert. Last year, the team lost by a very small margin of 10-8, but this year and most likely for years to come, Palm Desert will be prominent in post-season tennis.“Considering that making the CIF finals last year was the first time in at least 45 years, making it back- to-back is an amazing achievement,” Resnick said. “I am really proud of all the hard work everyone put in to this season trying to get to the finals. It was definitely the most memorable season of all.”Indeed, last year was the first time in 45 years that Samo made it to CIF. Additionally, the last person to win CIF for Samo tennis was none other than Samo English teacher Berkeley Blatz. According to Blatz, he has been holding an old wooden tennis racket from the 1966 CIF championships tournament that he won to give to the coach of the next Samo CIF champions.“I’m hoping that the boys can restore the glory years of Santa Monica High School tennis,” Blatz said. “That would balance out the fact that Lincoln Jr. High turned their tennis courts into parking lots. That was the ultimate downer and if they win it would be the ultimate upper.”The team had its finals match on Wednesday, May 30 away at Claremont. Samo lost the match 13-5,  therefore ending the season. According to team members, losing is never a great feeling, but many of the Samo players maintained a positive attitude about how well they have done over the entire season.“I am more proud than I am sour about our loss,” senior co-captain Chris Yuan said. “Even though we lost to the same team twice in the finals of CIF, making it there in the first place is still a great accomplishment, let alone making it twice.”Unfortunately, for the large amount of seniors on the team they will not get another shot at the CIF title and their Samo tennis careers are officially over.“It is pretty sad to know that my high school tennis career is over,” Resnick said. “After spending so much time with my teammates it is hard to admit it is over. Again, I am really proud of all of them and I’ll definitely take these memories with me forever. I thought making it to the finals was like a once in a lifetime achievement, but we did it twice. That is really a testament to the hard work each player put into this season.”While many of the players’ Samo careers have come to an end some will be pursuing tennis in the coming years. Resnick will be attending Chapman University next year and plans to play NCAA Division III tennis there. Senior co-captain and nationally ranked tennis player Cris Rivera is undecided about where he will be attending next year. While not all team members will be playing in the NCAA, they all plan to continue to play recreationally.The team now has to move forward and plan ahead for their season next year. According to Resnick, with the large amount of seniors leaving the team – especially team acknowledged MVP Rivera – it will be very difficult for the team to achieve the same level of success that they have in the past two years.“It will be a loss for the team to lose many of our starters and great characters, but the future of this team will still be viewed as a team to beat and it will always be that way,” Yuan said. “We just need more players that have the same mental and physical game as Cris.”Only until recently has Samo tennis made a comeback from their 45 years of no CIF appearances. While the team may be losing a lot of senior players the competitive energy still remains and Samo may meet Palm Desert for a third time in next year’s CIF finals.gboehm@thesamohi.com