BHS wins 2 of its final 3 matches to edge Clovis, 5-4
| Friday, May 15 2009 10:42 PM
Last Updated Friday, May 15 2009 10:42 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield High School #1 seeded tennis player, David Mossman, plays tough against Clovis player, Andrew Combs, Friday, at the Bakersfield Racquet Club.
Casey Christie / The Californian Number one ranked tennis player for Bakersfield High School, David Mossman, plays tough against Clovis player, Andrew Combs, Friday, at the Bakersfield Racquet Club.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield High School tennis player, Jack Foster, plays against Clovis tennis player, Steven Gilbert, Friday, at the Bakersfield Racquet Club.
It was a split personality that got the job done for Bakersfield High's tennis team Friday at the Bakersfield Racquet Club.
As the Drillers played through three crucial doubles matches, each player spent as much time being a cheerleader for a teammate as he did reacting to his own match.
In the end, BHS took two of the three doubles matches and beat Clovis 5-4 in a Central Section Division I quarterfinal.
"We're keeping as close an eye on them as we can," said BHS senior David Mossman, who played in the middle court with the other two matches on either side. "We know if they're up or they're down a little bit. But then we've just got to focus on our match."
The Drillers (18-7) will travel to top seed Clovis West on Wednesday for a semifinal. No. 2 Stockdale plays host to No. 3 Fresno-Bullard in the other semi.
Clovis fell to 17-4.
Bakersfield won an extraordinarily close dual to get to the final four. Mossman won his singles match 6-2, 2-6, 13-11 over Andrew Combs, fighting off two match points.
"It was really close," Mossman said. "Any point could have gone either way. I was up in the tiebreak 6-2, then had to fight off two match points."
Jack Foster lost in a tiebreaker at No. 2 singles, as did Grant Paulson at No. 4, tying the dual 3-3 after singles play.
"It was two good teams," BHS coach Julio Mercado said. "The match easily could have gone either way. But it's nice to have a win over a top team."
In the doubles, BHS dropped the first set in two of the three matches, but the No. 3 team of Roshin Bhangoo and Clint Meek fought back to take the second set 7-5 off Landon Fischer and Carson Bransvik. The Drillers then won the tiebreaker 10-7.
"When I heard these guys won over here, I was so excited," Mossman said. "We were down, and I knew they were down, but when I heard they had won, I was just so excited."
Mossman and Foster dropped their match shortly afterwards, 6-2, 7-5, knotting the dual at 4. That left all eyes on Brandon Alba and Paulson, who were up a set and 5-3 in the second set.
That finish didn't lack drama, either. With his team looking on and cheering every point, Alba served at 5-4, survived three deuces and finally won the match when a Clovis return sailed long.
"It helped at least that no one sat right in front of us," Alba said, a grin spreading on his face. "I appreciate that."
