Looking to make a deep postseason run, the Millikan boys’ tennis team adjusted their lineup ahead of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.
That adjustment paid off big as Millikan defeated Villa Park 10-8 last weekend to claim the CIF Southern Section Division 4 title at the University of Redlands.
“There were some changes that needed to be made moving forward,” Millikan coach Spencer Pozgay said. “I moved my doubles guys around and moved my doubles guys to singles. So for all five games for CIF we did run the same exact lineup for all five games.”
The Rams knew they’d have a tough matchup after Villa Park knocked out top-seeded Oxford Academy in the first round.
The championship match went almost exactly as Millikan had planned as Eric Carranca, Noah Edwards and Andrew Abelmelek swept their matches.
With the singles sweep, the Rams only needed one doubles team to knock off Villa Park’s top duo.
Nathan Gomes and Isaac Kim provided just what Millikan needed as they came away with the win to give the Rams the championship. Gomes and Kim were a dynamic duo throughout the CIF tournament as they swept every match they played.
“We knew our strength was our doubles,” Pozgay said.
Along with Gomes and Kim, Kaden Serdengecti and Harrison Bruechert, and Andrew Oum and Ziggy Rouret only lost three sets combined throughout the playoffs.
The championship is the second title for the Rams in five years after they won the Division 4 title in 2021.
Wilson falls
The Wilson tennis team is no stranger to high-stakes tennis. After winning the school’s first tennis championship in 2023 – the Bruins were back in the championship match on Friday at University of Redlands.
In the CIF-SS Division 2 championship match, Wilson lost a hard-fought contest to Flintridge Prep 10-8.
After two dominant wins over Santa Monica and Huntington Beach, the Bruins had stiff competition in the quarterfinals and semifinals defeating Oaks Christian and Windward 10-8 to advance to the championship.
“We battled through some of our players going through some physical things,” Wilson coach Nick Medina said. “We had a lot of matches go to three sets.”
Senior Luke Ames, Leo Bauch and Douglas Smith did what they needed to, but Flintridge was a tough team that also knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs last year.
“They are really impressive because their singles are extremely good,” Medina said.
The playoff run acts as a sendoff for the decorated senior class.
“I was really happy for the guys that worked through injuries all year,” Medina said. “The guys improved so much.”
