CHS boys tennis loses another heartbreaker

For the second straight match, the Carson High boys tennis team sustained a heartbreaking 10-8 defeat this time at South Tahoe on Thursday.

The Senators (6-2, 5-2) were coming off a 10-8 loss to Reno High on Tuesday. Reno also beat the Vikings 10-8.

As the Sierra League's third place team behind Reno and South Tahoe, the Senators will have to travel to the High Desert League's No. 2 team for the first round of the Northern 4A playoffs. But if Carson can win that first round match, it's likely the Senators would receive another shot at Reno in the zone semifinals.

Against South Tahoe, it was the strength of South Tahoe's singles against the strength of Carson's doubles.

"I knew it was going to be their singles with my strength in doubles," Carson coach Pat Houlihan said.

The teams were tied 3-3 after the first round with South Tahoe sweeping the singles and Carson sweeping the doubles. In the second round, James Pelz and Spencer Trapp played well in a 3-6 loss against South Tahoe's No. 1 team. Spencer Brinson won 6-0 in singles for Carson, again leaving the match tied 6-6 after two rounds.

But in the third round, South Tahoe swept the singles and the Vikings No. 1 doubles team won for the victory. Jordan Rogers and Brad Cobler swept three matches and Ricky Nyguen and Jon Kane and Pelz and Trapp each won two matches in doubles for Carson.

SOUTH TAHOE 14, CHS GIRLS 4

Carson came close to forcing a 3-3 tie after the first round, nearly sweeping the doubles. Joanna Xie and Jena Greenburg won 6-4 and Hannah Shaw and Alyssa Corda won 7-6 (7-2).

But Elise Hansen and Hannah Dudley couldn't finish off a comeback after being down 2-5. They got to within 4-5 and had three break points at 0-40 to force a 5-5 tie, but couldn't convert and ended up losing 4-6, leaving Carson down 4-2 after the first round.

South Tahoe went on to win five-of-six matches in the second round to take control of the match. Dudley and Hansen picked up the win, winning 7-6 (7-4).

Dudley and Hansen almost pulled off another comeback in the third round coming back from a 0-4 deficit to force a 4-4 tie, but ended up losing 4-6. Shaw and Corda also had a close 5-7 loss.

Carson will likely clinch the fourth and final spot from the Sierra League into the Northern 4A playoffs with a win against Wooster in its final league match on Tuesday.

"They're doing great," said Carson coach Linda Hixenbaugh about her team. "They're improving so much every match. I'm proud of them."