With the final score, 5-4, the FC boys tennis team clinches the CIF Central Section Division V Valley Championship title against the Caruthers Blue Raiders, May 7. This is the boy’s first title since 2000. The previous teams, led by coach Allen Tong, won five titles in seven years, first in 1994, then a four-year stretch from 1997-2000.
Second doubles team, Logan Lewis, ’20, and Kyle Clem, ’21, win the final match to give the Eagles the title. Lewis and Clem went down early in the second set 0-3. Clem served an ace, immediately followed by a calf cramp which brought him to ground. A medical timeout gave him and Lewis a chance to regroup, and, though still in pain, Clem and Lewis won that and the next game. Now, at 2-3, the duo found new hope of winning their match.
Eventually, with the score, 9-7, the Caruthers server pounded the ball into the service square to Lewis. With a quick recovery, Lewis returned the ball on a deep crosscourt shot back to the server. As the ball landed at his feet, the server proceeded to lob his return. Upon this shot, the ball began to stray towards out of bounds territory. With one definitive bounce in the dark green, the boy’s tennis team delivered on their season-long goal of bringing home a Valley title for the first time in 19 years.
The video below highlights some of the matches from the Eagles Valley victory:
Tennis Valley Championship 2019 from The Feather Online on Vimeo.
For another article, read Tennis defeats Caruthers, wins 2019 Valley championship
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