After last season’s semifinal loss to University in the BCL Playoffs, a short stint in NCS playoffs, and the dismissal of their head coach, the Varsity Boys Tennis team has been reincarnated.
Under new head coach Mike Axtell the team places as the three seed in BCL West, in close contention with Marin Academy and University High School, who ranked second and first respectively. The Tigers went 11-6 overall and 6-2 in league.
In the first round of BCL playoffs the Tigers swept Urban Blues, who were forced to forfeit three of the seven matches due to many of their players being on spring break. In the second round the Tigers redeemed their early season 4-3 loss to Marin Academy with a 6-1 win to advance to the finals against the University Red Devils.
The match was held on neutral ground at San Domenico High School in Marin. Tempers flew high when University’s head coach and athletic director, Jim Ketcham, began yelling at doubles two player Aniket Joshi ’19. The heated words came after Ketcham continually failed to call foot faults on his own players. Joshi objected and Ketcham, infuriated, began to yell at him. Coach Ketcham, unable to control his temper, stormed the court. After he regained control of his anger he stayed off the court and a neutral representative from San Domenico made the calls.
The Tigers lost their three-singles and four-singles matches swiftly, falling 0-2 overall. Next to fall was one-doubles. Lick would have to win the remaining four matches to win the title. Jack Brady ’21 won his two-singles match. Next, the three-doubles team of Henry Stiepleman ’19 and James Spokes ’21 won their match. The contentious doubles-two match and a singles-one match remained. It was clear that John Peabody ’20 would go on to win his singles match, so the focus fell on doubles-two. Both teams’ players filled the adjacent court to cheer on their teammates.
There were great points from both sides. Blayden Lee ’19 dominated the net and Joshi’s powerful topspin kept the match tight. However, University managed to squeak by with the win and therefore the BCL championship.
Although the Tigers came in second to University, there remained North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs. The Division II NCS Playoffs is comprised of 15 final teams from 70 possible teams from various sectional leagues in Northern California, and the playoff system follows a bracket format. Lick-Wilmerding was seeded fourth overall and so they faced thirteenth seeded Albany High School. It was a quick 7-0 rout and the Tigers moved on to the quarterfinals. They played Athenian High School.
As the matches progressed it was clear that Athenian was a serious opponent. As the afternoon progressed the deciding match, it was clear, were to be four-singles. Kaya Erol ’20, the Tigers’ four-singles competitor, played a match for the ages. The first two sets had been split, and so the Tigers’ NCS run came down to one final set. A sizable crowd filled the adjacent court to cheer on Erol in his third set.
Erol had been fighting leg cramps throughout the match and at one point had to use a roller to remain in the play. He completely dominated, winning the third set 6-1 and Lick-Wilmerding advanced to the NCS semifinals tying the farthest Lick has gone in tennis history.
The semifinals were held on neutral ground at the Golden Gate Park Tennis Courts. Once again, the Tigers faced the UHS Red Devils, and once again the contest was to be decided by one match. It all came down to the doubles-three match featuring Stiepleman and Spokes. They had won the first set 10-8 in tiebreaker and match seemed to be going their way. However, both players lost energy and mixed with some questionable service calls by their opponents lost the second set swiftly.
It all came down to the third and final set. A crowd had amassed around court 7 with the finals on the line. Quickly the Tigers fell 0-3 in game score. To win the match it would have to be an incredible comeback. There was a fight as Stiepleman and Spokes pulled within one game, but the incredible comeback escaped them and the Red Devils held onto the lead and advanced to the finals.
The Tigers will have only lost one player, their resident senior Ben Fields ’18. Fields, alongside Joshi, led the team this season and delivered a moving speech after Saturday’s loss that perfectly summed up his leadership abilities. He shared his love for his fellow teammates and how impressed he was with the high level of play this year. He was met with a strong round of applause from his teammates.
With this year’s impressive improvement throughout the team and the star young talent in the three freshmen Jack Brady, James Spokes, and Chris Leon, the future looks bright for the TIgers.
John Peabody, the team’s star singles one player shares this optimism for the coming seasons.
Peabody had this to say: “This year we went from being an afterthought to being one of the top four schools in NCS. We are fortunate enough to only graduate one senior this year, so I’m really optimistic about our chance to win league and NCS next year. We are a young team with lots of potential.”
