Winning the last match of the day in Foothill League prelims, Valencia boys tennis’ No. 3-seeded doubles team Chan Gi Kim and Ian Cho slowly walked to the net and congratulated Golden Valley’s Javi Gonzalez and Chris Guerra at The Paseo Club on Wednesday after the 6-3, 6-0 win to move onto the semis.
With the win, Kim and Cho are set to meet their Vikings teammates and the No. 2-seeded doubles partners, Jackson Boxall and Stephen Thay, who defeated Hart’s Tanner Spendlove and Sam Fossa 6-0, 7-6.
”We have played them a couple times in practice,” Cho said looking ahead to their semifinal showdown. “We are kind of used to their balls so we just have to get things back because they are bigger and could go down harder.”
Also moving through to the semis is the No. 4-seeded doubles partners Sam Kim and Brent Lim, who are also Vikings, as they defeated Marcel Contin and Robert Kim of West Ranch, 6-4, 6-2.
“I feel a lot better,” Kim said about the big quarterfinals win over the Wildcat duo. “Last time we got beat by them and it was a hard feeling to leave with.”
Added Lim: “It was pretty brutal when we tried to do anything (last time), but today we got revenge on them so it was good.”
Joining Lim and Kim and rounding out the semis will be the No. 1 overall doubles partners Artisto Turalakay and Jake Anderson of West Ranch after the 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Hart’s Daniel LaForteza and Jeremy Killian.
”Our form has been pretty good over the course of the Foothill League,” Turalakay said about their performance. “Currently we are undefeated in league play, but there is always tough competition in the Foothill League and a lot of opponents are gunning for our heads.”
On the singles side, all four of the top seeds moved on to the semis as well. Three of the four are Wildcats.
The No. 1 seed, Davey Woodland of West Ranch, who took care of business in the first and second rounds, defeating Spencer Kline of Hart (6-0, 6-1) and Jeremy Cook of Canyon (6-0, 6-0). Woodland finds himself taking on teammate Hayden Rand tomorrow and is looking forward to the match.
“I think it’s going to be tough,” Woodland said. “…It’s going to require my full concentration and maximum effort tomorrow in order to go out there and get the win, so I’m just hoping I can lock him down and get to the finals in straight sets.”
No. 4 seed Hayden Rand defeated two very good players in Valencia’s Batis Golestany (6-4, 6-2) and Saugus’ Erin Pang (6-4, 6-1).
“I just had to stay steady throughout the match and keep doing what I do,” Rand said about the quarterfinal win over Pang.
In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed Parker McBride of West Ranch and No. 3 seed Gabriel Chavez of Valencia move on after McBride defeated Chavez’s teammates Eduardo Cedeno (6-2, 6-4) to lock up a spot in the semis.
“I was a bit nervous,” McBride said about his exhausting match against Cedeno. “He’s a really tough player and he makes a lot of good hits and he just battles.”
Looking to duplicate the same result tomorrow, McBride will look to come out firing against Chavez and make it an all-West Ranch singles finals matchup.
Matches will begin at 11 a.m. at the Paseo Club.
