Nearly a month after winning the doubles title in the Tri-County
Athletic League, an accomplishment that advanced the two San Benito
High juniors to the16-team CCS tournament, Kyle Skinner and Eric
Johnson on Tuesday simply could not keep pace with Leland’s Derek
Tsay and Ryan Chow at the Imperial Courts Tennis Club in Aptos.
APTOS
Losses haven’t been at all plentiful this season for Kyle Skinner and Eric Johnson. Just two entering Tuesday’s Central Coast Section Boys Tennis Doubles Championships, in fact.
So falling in what was the final match of the season, for just the third time this season, makes it all the more frustrating.
“It’s far better competition than we were prepared for,” Johnson said Tuesday, moments after he and Skinner fell in the CCS first round to Leland’s Derek Tsay and Ryan Chow in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.
Skinner agreed with Johnson’s assessment.
“Yeah,” he said, initially speechless. “Just, yeah.”
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Nearly a month after winning the doubles title in the Tri-County Athletic League, an accomplishment that advanced the two San Benito High juniors to the16-team CCS tournament, Skinner and Johnson on Tuesday simply could not keep pace with Tsay and Chow at the Imperial Courts Tennis Club in Aptos.
The Leland pairing displayed powerful serving, impressive serve-receive and strong net play, admittedly stronger than Skinner and Johnson’s. But as San Benito head coach Chris Yoder pointed out, Tsay and Chow were simply a more experienced doubles team.
“Eric and Kyle had some good shots, but their guys had an answer for it,” Yoder said. “They were an experienced doubles team who knew how to play doubles and could use the court to their advantage.
“That’s what our guys are still learning.”
Skinner and Johnson are still technically new to the doubles scene, despite their TCAL title and near-perfect regular season record. Playing as singles players last season — they represented the No. 1 and No. 4 options, respectively — Skinner and Johnson opted to team up this season for a run at the CCS tournament, of which no Baler had advanced to since Eddie Barrios qualified in 2000.
Skinner and Johnson officially ended that postseason drought on Tuesday.
“It was good,” Johnson said. “It showed us that we need to prepare more for doubles, or even for singles. It’s pretty ferocious in the first round.”
While Tsay and Chow’s serving and serve-receive were stronger than that of their San Benito counterparts on Tuesday, the Leland duo’s net play may have been the difference.
Chow, especially, had a strong performance in the front row Tuesday, either unexpectedly intercepting a return shot or winning a short range net volley.
But no matter who was in the front row, Skinner said, it was the net player who was being set up for the point.
“They knew how to play the shot in order for us to hit it to their guy at the net, which they would then smack down,” Skinner said. “They’ve been working on that. You could tell they did the same thing every point. And when we caught on, they tweaked it just that much to where we didn’t catch on.
“We’d expect something and it wouldn’t exactly be there.”
It was only the third loss of the season for the Baler pair. The two actually lost their very first match of the regular season, falling to Carmel on March 3, and lost again to a doubles team from Monterey on April 11.
Playing in the CCS Championships was a bit different for Skinner and Johnson, though. The pressure of a one-and-done scenario, as opposed to a non-conference matchup with either Carmel or Monterey, added to the stakes.
“Here, it’s one loss and you’re out,” Skinner said. “And we were playing a lot more uptight.”
Still, just juniors, the two will have another year to build upon, with the experience gained from Tuesday’s tournament now officially under their belt.
And right now, next year’s plan remains up in the air.
Skinner and Johnson are considering a move back to singles next season, before re-teaming up as a doubles pairing prior to the TCAL Tournament and perhaps yet another run at the CCS Championships.
Of course, while that may be the plan now, it could all change by next spring.
“We were thinking this year we’d be singles all the way, and we ended up being doubles instead,” Skinner said.
Singles or doubles, though, having simply played in the CCS Championships will benefit Skinner and Johnson next season, Yoder said.
“They got to see what it’s like in the deep blue sea,” Yoder added. “Now I think they’re probably motivated.
“I’m hoping they get inspired by what they saw.”
