As the early sets were being contested and then recorded into the score sheet, it became fairly apparent that Tuesday’s Pacific League boys’ tennis match between Burbank High and host Burroughs was going to be a rout.
After slightly more than two hours, it was exactly that as the Bulldogs prevailed 16-2 over the Indians.
Burbank is now 5-3 overall and 4-2 in league play while Burroughs is 2-5 and 1-5 in league action.
Spearheading the Bulldogs’ attack was James Lee, the No. 1 singles player who went 6-4, 6-0 and 6-1 over No. 1 junior Kendric Marcy, No. 2 sophomore Rafael Muniga and No. 3 freshman Sebastian Muga.
Lee said he expected a much closer match. “I think it was effort and motivation and more skill,” he pointed out. “But I didn’t think that it would be so one-sided.”
Lee, a sophomore then added: “I like being tested and even if you lose, you’re going to get better.”
At No. 2, junior Luciano Dapuetto fell to Marcy 2-6, but then rallied for victories over Muniga 6-0 and Muga 6-0.
Likewise, Dapuetto, who has also played soccer, figured that it would be nip-and-tuck because of the long-standing rivalry.
“I really didn’t expect it to be so one-sided,” he said. “We had seniors graduate and they had seniors graduate and both were really good. That’s what happens as the years go by. It’s all about development.”
At No. 3, junior Nathan Soria also fell to Marcy 1-6, but then came back to knock off Muniga 7-5 and Muga 6-1.
“I thought that if we played well, we should win,” Burbank coach Loi Phan said. “I didn’t think that we would win so easily.”
Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said he could see early on that it wasn’t going to be easy.
“We had a tough day,” he admitted. “It’s been a tough year. We have some good players like Kendric, but you’re going to need five players like him in order to really compete. I’ve had some good teams in the past, but we’re somewhat down this year. There’s not a lot of wiggle room.”
In doubles play, Burbank’s No. 1 tandem of sophomore Ethan Lee and freshman Sid Denduluri finished the afternoon with a 6-3 win over the Indians’ No. 1 squad of junior Luc Thorn and sophomore Cameron Flowers, then defeated the No. 2 duo of junior Mark Do and junior Andrei Garcia 6-0, and held off the No. 3 tandem of junior Kiet Hoang and sophomore Jack Lieblein 7-5.
Burbank’s No. 2 team of senior Alejandro Rojas and junior Emory Kim went 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3 over the same duos.
The Bulldogs’ No. 3 of junior Aaron Nahn and junior Harout Abgaryan went 6-4 against Thorn/Flowers and 6-1 versus Hoang/Lieblein.
Junior Greg Farhadian and Abgaryan also squeaked past Do/Garcia at 7-6.
