The Sobrato High boys tennis team’s first season back in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division can be called a success.
After going 14-3 overall and 12-0 in West Valley Division play last year, the Bulldogs moved up and went 7-5 overall and took third place with a 5-5 mark in Santa Teresa matches this season.
Sobrato’s No. 1 singles player, junior Alex Ferreira, was 7-5 on the season but took second in the Santa Teresa tournament, which gave him the No. 6 seed in the BVAL tourney, where he reached the finals.
Another standout was No. 2 singles sophomore Justin Lyle, who had a 9-2 record. He teamed up with No. 4 singles junior Adarsh Cherra in the Santa Teresa tourney. The duo was unseeded, but defeated the No. 2 doubles team from Live Oak, 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then beat the No. 4-seeded team from Yerba Buena, 6-2, 6-1. In the semifinals, they defeated the second-seeded team from Independence, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 before losing to the top-seeded team from Prospect, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the finals.
Sobrato’s No. 3 singles player, senior Mitchell Pasek, went a perfect 12-0 and advanced to the Santa Teresa tournament as well. He eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Live Oak’s Milan Le Ruyet, 6-3, 6-2. Pasek was one half of the defending West Valley doubles champion tandem from last year, teaming up with Alex Ferreira.
