Burbank High’s three singles players are all freshmen who were playing in their first CIF Southern Section playoff match Wednesday when the Bulldogs hosted Crean Lutheran.
All three swept their sets and in impressive enough fashion that Burbank was able to outlast its opponents 64-60 in games after both teams each won nine sets.
“I think this was a great start to experience it,” Emil Lazaryev said. “We got the W and now we get to play another one.”
Burbank will play Edison of Huntington Beach in the second round of the playoffs at a site to be determined by coin flip Thursday morning. Edison defeated Upland 13-5.
Apollo Harbaugh won 6-0 over Crean Lutheran’s No. 1 player Jeffrey Zou. He won 6-1 over No. 2 player Robert Jacobs and 6-0 over No. 3 Josias Wang.
Lazaryev won his sets 6-1, 6-1, 6-0.
Levon Kassouny won his sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.
Burbank struggled in doubles, losing all nine sets.
The No. 1 team of Harut Keklikyan and RIthun Gopalakrishnan lost their sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.
The No. 2 team of Michael Fan and Quinlan Kramer fared slightly, grabbing a combined six games in losing 3-6, 2-6, 1-6.
Burbank’s No. 3 doubles team of Alec Safarian and Monte Gharibian went 0-6, 0-6,1-6.
Crean Lutheran’s No. 1 doubles team consisted of Ethan Dowdell and Ivan Lin. The No. 2 team was Eugene Ban and Jack Fedro and the No. 3 team was Dane MacGinnis and Nathan Han.
