Eagles still in the race

Chris Yemma

At a crucial juncture in the Golden West League boys tennis race,

Estancia High has taken a turn down the winning road.

The defending league champion Eagles, winners of five straight

matches, need a win over crosstown rival Costa Mesa April 28 and a

Mustang loss to Orange to force a three-way tie for first.

Costa Mesa and Orange have provided tests for Estancia this

season, accounting for the Eagles’ only two league losses, but what

wasn’t a test was a 15-3 league walk through host Westminster

Tuesday.

The young Lions (1-14, 1-8 in league), who lost seven seniors to

graduation last year, have just one win this season, prompting coach

Kim Moore to dub it a down year.

“This is a major rebuilding year for us,” said Moore, who’s girls

team is fresh off a league title in the fall. “We only returned two

players and we have two brand new players who have never played

tennis before.”

Estancia’s fifth consecutive win was merely a minor stop in the

team’s schedule, as junior Scott Braunsdorf, freshman Bradley Fisher

and the doubles team of seniors Mike Fennessey and Shane Thompson,

all swept their sets.

Junior Andy Nelson, along with the two remaining doubles teams

(Chase Raymond-David Do, Chris Alvergue-Cesar Gonzalez and sub Aaron

Avella), won two sets apiece for the Eagles (8-6, 7-2).

Both Braunsdorf and Fisher have become staples for Estancia this

season, as Braunsdorf, the defending league singles champion,

improved to 21-3 in league and Fisher improved to 22-2.

“They are definitely two of the best players in the league, with

the exception of Orange’s No. 1 singles man,” Estancia Coach Rachel

de los Santos said. “They usually get us six points per match.”

Two of Braunsdorf’s losses came at the hands of Orange’s No. 1

singles player Steve Johnson, ranked 30th in the United States Tennis

Association boys 16s division.

But the 1-2 singles punch of Braunsdorf and Fisher have helped

Estancia stay in contention in numerous matches. In one of Estancia’s

two league losses -- an 11-7 defeat by Mesa earlier this year --

Braunsdorf and Fisher combined for six of Estancia’s seven points.

Fisher, the newcomer to the Estancia tennis scene, only lost one

game in a 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 sweep against Westminster.

“I knew Scott would be on top this year; he was the defending

league champ,” de los Santos said. “But Fisher definitely has been up

there.”

Estancia split matches with Orange in league play this year,

losing one of them in games. But an Estancia win over Costa Mesa and

an Orange win over Costa Mesa would propel the teams into a three-way

tie for first.

Braunsdorf is confident the team can defeat the Mustangs.

“We need to beat them and then root for them,” Braunsdorf said. “I

think we can beat them. We just need to get more singles wins.”

The top three teams advance to the CIF Southern Section Division V

playoffs.

Golden West League

Estancia 15,

Westminster 3

Singles -- Braunsdorf def. Lam, 6-0, def. Ly, 6-0, def. Duong,

6-0; Fisher (E) won, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1; Nelson (E) lost, 6-3, won, 6-2,

6-1.

Doubles -- Alvergue-Gonzalez def. Bonifacio-T. Tran, 6-3, def.

Hua-J. Tran, 6-3, lost to L. Nguyen-T. Nguyen, 7-6; Raymond-Do (E)

lost, 6-4, won, 6-1, sub Avella for Raymond, won, 6-3;

Fennessey-Thompson (E) won, 6-0, 6-5, 7-5.