The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The Wilson boys’ tennis team saw its postseason run come to an end on Wednesday afternoon, as the Bruins fell 11-7 to top-seeded Thacher in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 semifinals.
Wilson entered the match riding the momentum of a dramatic quarterfinal victory over Culver City, where the Bruins won a tiebreaker to punch their ticket to the semifinals. But before the first serve was struck on Wednesday, Wilson learned it would be without Filip Svrdlan, who was sidelined with an injury – forcing the Bruins to make adjustments to their lineup minutes before the match began.
The Bruins battled throughout the afternoon to give themselves a chance in the final round.
“Yeah, very respectable,” Wilson coach Nick Medina said. “We just didn’t quite play our best, and that’s what we would have needed.”
The Toads jumped in front early, taking a 4-2 lead after the first round. Wilson responded in the second round, splitting the six sets to keep within striking distance making it 7-5 heading into the final round.
Jake Paiva and Daniel Gerstner led the way for the Bruins, going undefeated in their singles matches and helping Wilson stay in it.
Still, Thacher took advantage with a dominant doubles run that the Bruins weren’t able to overcome.
Medina said the Bruins’ postseason run would not have been possible without Dvrslan, who delivered the decisive performance in the quarterfinal win over Culver City.
“We wouldn’t be here without him,” Medina said. “He won us the last match in a tiebreaker. He was down 15-40, came back, won the game and then won the tiebreaker.”
Though disappointed to come up short of a CIF final appearance, Medina was proud of what his team accomplished.
“To the seniors, great job,” Medina said. “We put together a pretty solid run. Reaching the semifinals is always awesome.
Medina said his message afterward was aimed at the underclassmen, encouraging them to use the loss as motivation.
“Think about what you can do to improve and focus on getting better every match,” Medina said. “Hopefully they practice this summer and think about the things that could have helped us win this match, and then go work on them.”
