Westlake boys' tennis team wins a grudge match against Agoura
Emotions high as Warriors prevail at home
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers INTENSE- Agoura's Chapman Chan hits a forehand winner during Tuesday's match at Westlake. The Chargers lost to the Warriors 10-8, and are now two games back of WHS in the league standings.

The Agoura High boys' tennis team has played outstandingly this year by posting a record of 72 in Marmonte League play. Unfortunately for the Chargers, those two losses were to Westlake.

Westlake created some breathing room in the Marmonte Tuesday by beating AHS for the second time this season, this time by a score of 10-8. The Warriors are undefeated in league with a record of 9-0.

"I think this is our biggest win of the season," junior Ian Stanley said. "By beating Agoura today, it shows that we can beat anyone that we play and possibly go undefeated this year."

Westlake's doubles teams were vital in beating Agoura. The Warriors won eight of their nine doubles matches. Doubles partners and Westlake co-captain seniors Michael Chang and Kevin Gross won all three of their doubles matches, as did juniors Dominic Insogna and Jonathan Kotzin.

"Our doubles play today has been awesome," Westlake head coach Connie Flanderka said. "Agoura has three real tough singles players; there are absolutely no weak spots for them there. I have been very pleased to see how our doubles players hung together today to get us some big wins."

Sophomore Darren Dohl, who won all three of his matches including a close contest with Stanley, 6-4, led the Agoura singles. Dohl's game with Stanley was so intense that Stanley ended up throwing his racket over the fence following the loss.

"I was just upset about losing a match I thought I should have won," Stanley said of throwing his racket. "I shouldn't have done it, and afterwards I took a little time to myself to calm down and focus more on the next opponent."

The intense play did not end there, as the doubles game that saw Chargers Mike Coleman and Chris Lewis matchup against Warriors Tony Carucci and Daniel Greentree needed line judges called in to watch the game after numerous close calls near the baseline.

The two teams kept battling and remained deadlocked at six games apiece after the first two rounds of play.

Westlake ended up sweeping the doubles in the third round, but Agoura got big wins from Dohl and Daniel Kane in the singles to close the gap to 9-8. If Chapman Chan could've beat Stanley in the final game, the match would have been tied at nine, and AHS would've won on tiebreaker points.

However, Stanley would have none of that.

Stanley ended up beating Chan 6-2 to preserve the win for Westlake and create a two-game lead in the Marmonte League standings.

"I didn't know I had to win my game until I was up 5-2, but it helped pump me up more once I knew I had to win," Stanley said. "I like playing in that kind of pressure."

After the win, Chang talked about how much the win meant for the Warriors.

"This game I felt could make our season if we could pull off a win," Chang said. "I feel that we have just started to peak and play our best tennis."

Even though Agoura lost ground in the Marmonte League, the team remains a threat once playoff time begins.

"The strength of our team so far this season has been our singles players, but I think our doubles play has improved," firstyear Agoura head coach Amir Marandy said. "The doubles have been showing a lot of hard work, and it seems they are now starting to make the jump from boys' tennis to men's tennis."

One of the biggest weapons on the Chargers' doubles teams is Coleman, who's a fouryear varsity returnee.

"I like this team a lot more than the past couple years," Coleman said. "We have a really dedicated group of singles players. Our doubles play is a little weaker than in the past, since we lost two of our best players two years ago, but we have gotten better."

Flanderka has been impressed with her Warrior club this season, even if she hasn't been able to be at all the games and practices due to knee surgery.

"I'm very fortunate to have great kids in this program and coaches like Matt Baldwin who have stepped up in my absence," Flanderka said. "This team is more cohesive than last year and we have more depth on the court. I'm very proud of them."

Westlake will continue its quest for an undefeated season when they play at Simi Valley today at 3 p.m. Agoura will look to make up ground in the Marmonte League when they play Moorpark at home. Game time is set for 3 p.m.