Boys tennis: Redwood’s youth movement yields an MCAL title
The Redwood High boys tennis team obviously didn’t take too kindly to losing to the Branson School three times last season. Consider revenge fully exacted.
With cheers ringing out from court to court as the Giants faced the Bulls Friday at Tam in the MCAL final, Redwood came armed with a bevy of talented freshmen and enough experience to return to the winner’s circle with a 6-1 victory.
“They took us down pretty bad last year,” said Redwood senior Jackson Sichel. “We knew we had to come back. This is big for me in my senior season.”
The top-seeded Giants, who also won the MCAL regular-season title, clinched the league pennant with two matches left on the court, including Sichel’s three-set duel with Branson’s Chase Hoeveler. Just as Hoeveler was battling cramps and briefly delayed the completion of the No. 2 singles match, Redwood got a dominating win from Chris Lee and Cal Fazal in No. 1 doubles to seal the deal.
Fazal is among the Giants’ fantastic freshmen, who excelled in his first MCAL team final. Fazal and Lee defeated Branson’s Cooper Griffin and James Stovell 6-1, 6-1.
Soon after, MCAL Player of the Year Julian Zhang, one of the top 14-year-olds in the nation, took down Branson’s Tommie Higgins 6-4, 6-1 in No. 1 singles.
“We have an incredible group of freshmen,” said Redwood coach Craig Flax. “That has really rejuvenated the program. It’s the kind of class — that if they stay with the program and they grow like we expect them to — we’re going to have a couple of really strong years.”
With Sichel and Hoeveler still on the court more than 2.5 hours after their match started, the Branson junior was finally forced to retire due to cramps while ahead in the third set, 5-4. The score in this tight match in very windy conditions goes down as 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-5, retired.
Flax heaped praise on the fiery Sichel, who played No. 1 for the Giants last season but gave way to the heralded Zhang in his final high school season.
“Julian comes in as a freshman and takes over the No. 1 spot — that could be really hard for a high school freshman,” said Flax. “Jackson not only handled it very well but he has led this team — the cohesiveness of this team. I’m so thrilled as a coach.”
The other freshmen who stood out for the Giants on Friday were Will Greenwald, who won No. 4 singles in straight sets, and Alejandro Puentes, who teamed up with Tug Ricordel to win at No. 2 doubles.
Branson’s only win came in No. 3 singles where Ishwar Jayaraman won the first set 6-3 before Redwood’s Lukas Berger retired with an elbow injury.
Redwood and Branson will compete in the North Coast Section team tournaments starting on May 7. Branson is the defending Division II champ; Redwood advanced to the D-I second round in 2023 and last won an NCS title in 2018.
“I think Redwood is a little bit stronger than they were last season, which is a good challenge for us,” said Branson coach Chrissie Costamagna. “It’s more than a challenge for us.”
The MCAL singles and doubles tournaments are slated for Monday through Wednesday at Marin Tennis Club in San Rafael. The finals will be on Wednesday.
Redwood’s Sichel and Tam’s Tyler Byrne, earned byes as the top two seeds in the first round of the MCAL singles tournament, with Sichel the top seed and Byrne second.
Branson’s Hoeveler is seeded third seed with Marin Catholic’s Jack Millar as the fourth seed.
In the doubles tournament, Redwood’s Lee and Fazal earned the top seed.
Branson has two of the top-four seeded pairs. The second seed went to Branson’s Tommie and Finn Higgins. The Bulls’ Stovell and Oliver Goldman are seeded third.
The Peregrine Falcons’ Johan and Anders Jacobs, who anchored the singles ladder during the regular season, team up as the fourth seed.