After going undefeated during the regular season, San Benito’s
Michael Jensen and Connor Bray lost in the TCAL championship to a
team they hadn’t seen before
SALINAS
In tennis, the postseason tournament has a way of turning the regular season on its head.
Michael Jensen and Connor Bray had gone undefeated during the regular season, and were looking to become the first individuals from San Benito to advance to the postseason since 2000. But Friday’s Tri-County Athletic League Championships in Salinas didn’t follow the prescribed storyline, as Everett Alvarez threw a bit of a wrench into the doubles bracket.
Opposite a pairing they had never played against all season, Jensen and Bray’s storybook year took a tragic twist on Friday when the two lost in the league doubles championship to Alvarez’s P.J. Vargas and Peter Ngoi, 6-0, 7-5.
It was the one and only loss for the Baler duo in the 2010 season, and unfortunately it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“It’s very disappointing, but it’s a whole different ball game when they put in a singles player and a doubles player,” Jensen said. “Their shots are so much better.”
While the San Benito pairing had played alongside each other all season, their opponents were a fresh mix. Ngoi had competed at doubles all season, and, along with partner Rainier Nanquil, was part of the lone pairing to have actually taken a set from Jensen and Bray during the regular season — the San Benito duo otherwise won each match in straight sets.
Vargas, though, had played singles at the No. 1 spot for Alvarez this year, and clearly displayed his top-dog skill on the court Friday.
“That was the thing to get used to,” Jensen said. “His serve was amazing.
“But we fought our best and we got here, and that’s all that matters.”
The Baler twosome took advantage of a quick start during the regular season, building chemistry and adding to a growing win total along the way. The early bond, at least as far as wins and losses go, was somewhat surprising because as juniors, Jensen and Bray hadn’t played together at all.
They were a part of two different doubles pairings for San Benito — Jensen with Jon Rudolfs at No. 1, Bray with Eric Johnson at No. 2. But this season, as the Balers’ top twosome, Jensen and Bray nearly ran the table and nearly advanced to the Central Coast Section Doubles Championships, which hasn’t been done since Eddie Barrios advanced in singles competition in 2000.
“In the beginning of the season, we were winning pretty easily,” Bray said. “We started to let-up a little bit, but then we found some chemistry and came back and finished the last part of the season really strong.”
The Baler duo went 10-0 during the regular season — two matches were postponed — and earned the top seed in the TCAL Championships as a result.
“But that was practice compared to this,” Bray said. “That was cool, but this is where it really matters.”
Earning a first-round bye in the process, Jensen and Bray defeated Palma’s Ethan Shaw and Joe Corner (3-6, 6-2, 10-7) in the quarterfinals last Thursday, then topped Alvarez’s other doubles pairing in Nanquil and Daniel Chong (7-6, 6-3) later in the day before advancing to the championship round.
“It’s just different playing against a player that’s better than you individually who is teamed up with a good doubles player,” Bray said of playing against Vargas. “It’s just a different experience.”
Jensen and Bray said they played tight in the first set and promptly lost 6-0 as a result, while a pro-Eagles crowd began to gather alongside the courts at Everett Alvarez, cheering along with Vargas and Ngoi.
“We missed the momentum train at the start of the match and didn’t get on it until the second set,” San Benito head coach Chris Yoder said. “But give the Alvarez guys credit. They executed really well.
“Our guys started coming back, started playing better, but it was too late.”
Vargas and Ngoi went up 2-0 in the second set before Jensen and Bray picked up their first game in the match — the winning point coming by Jensen with a slam at the net. But Vargas’ strong serving in the fourth game kept the momentum in Alvarez’s corner.
Jensen and Bray began to exhibit strong play toward the middle of the second set, but the Eagle duo managed to stave off any last-ditch efforts by the Balers in the end.
“We were playing so much better,” Jensen said of the second set. “If we had played that way in the beginning, I think we would have won like, 6-3, 6-4.
“But it is how it is.”
Tri-County Athletic League Championships
San Benito’s second doubles team to compete at the TCAL Championships last week, Austin Pan and Eric Johnson, lost their first-round match to Salinas’ Jeff Guidoffi and Jeff Reeves, 8-1.
In singles, Kyle Skinner defeated Monte Vista Christian’s Ha Le 9-8 in the first round, but lost to top-seed Farren Casad 6-0, 6-1 in the second round. Meanwhile, San Benito’s Jacob Garcia lost to Jeremy Ortiz of Everett Alvarez 8-2 in the first round.
