Burbank Boys Tennis Leaves No Doubt in Win Over Burroughs

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The first time the Burbank and Burroughs boys’ tennis teams got together this season, the Bulldogs earned a road win on a tiebreaker.

But in the return leg, Burbank left no doubt as to which was the stronger team, winning 13-5 over the visiting Indians.

“I think we just honed in about playing and not worrying about the score and worrying about if we were losing or not,” Burbank’s Parker Katz said. “With my partner Dominik we just said get your serve in, play the point and go point by point, game by game. Last year it was a really intense match and I think last month there was a lot of tension (too). It was a big match.”

Burbank (8-4 in league) won seven sets in doubles and got six more in singles.

Burroughs (6-6) got a sweep in singles from No. 1 player Sam Bernardy, who is a sophomore.

He won 6-2 over Burbank freshman Yesh Desai, 6-2 over Burbank’s Abasi Abukusumo and 6-0 over sophomore Hakop Kerimyan.

“I thought I was playing well. I came (ready) to practice this week,” Bernardy said.

Desai defeated Burroughs No. 2 Kyle Lester, 6-1 and No. 3 player Blake Hildebrandt, 6-0.

Abukusumo, who is a sophomore, defeated Lester, who is a freshman, 6-4.

Abukusumo also defeated Hildebrandt, who is a sophomore, 6-1.

Kerimyan, who is a sophomore, defeated Lester 6-4 and Hildebrandt, 6-0.

In doubles, it was Burbank’s No. 2 team of Katz and Sumera, who earned a sweep.

The pair of juniors opened with a 7-6 (8-6) win over the Burroughs No. 2 team of senior Cameron Flowers and junior Sebastian Muga.

They earned a 6-4 win over the Burroughs No. 1 team of senior Mark Do and sophomore Trieu Nguyen.

They defeated the Burroughs No. 3 team of Daniel Cho and Rafael Munguia 6-4. Cho and Munguia are both seniors.

“It was a tough match especially because our first two sets went pretty far in,” Sumera said. “I think it was the longest my partner and I have played in one day.”

The Burbank No. 1 doubles team of senior Ethan Lee and Sid Denduluri won 6-0 over Do and Nguyen. They defeated Flowers and Muga 6-1, but fell 6-3 to Cho and Munguia.

The Burbank No. 3 team of senior Michael Westwood and junior Daniel Khrlobian fell 6-0 to Cho and Munguia.

Senior Greg Gevojanyan replaced Westwood for the other two sets.

He and Khrlobian defeated Do and Nguyen 6-3 and defeated Flowers and Muga 6-1.

Burroughs, which finishes fourth in league, is expected to get a wild card into the CIF playoffs.

“I think we have a good chance of going deep into the playoffs,” Bernardy said. “I think we’re deeper than we were last year.”