Baron Brooks tries to return the ball in his doubles match against South Lake Tahoe High School. Brooks and his partner Tim Suchsland lost the match. Photo by Brian Corley
For the Carson High boys tennis team, it just wasn't meant to be.
Carson sustained a heartbreaking 11.5-11 loss to South Tahoe on Thursday at Centennial Park in a match that knocked the Senators out of playoff contention. The result also likely means Carson will only be able to take one of its top two doubles teams to the zone tournament.
But that doubles team, Josh Brekken and Andy Araza, should have an excellent chance to be one of the two teams from Northern Nevada that advances to the state tournament.
Brekken and Araza swept their three matches on Thursday. The sweep included an impressive 6-2 win over South Tahoe's No. 1 team, which has beaten two other top teams in the North from Reno and Manogue this year.
Brekken and Araza lost to Reno's No. 1 team in a tiebreaker, but Carson coach Jeff Evans said he hopes his duo will be seeded No. 2 in the zone tournament.
"They've got a real good shot," said Evans about Brekken and Araza making the state tournament. "I think right now they're No. 2 even though they did lose to the Reno team."
Against South Tahoe's No. 1 team, Brekken's lob to the baseline gave Carson a 5-2 lead. Brekken then set up Araza's powerful overhead with his serving, settin up three straight Araza smashes as Brekken held at love for the win.
Carson didn't finish in the top four in league play, which means it qualifies just one doubles team for the zone tournament. But Evans is still hopeful that there will be an opening for his No. 2 team, Ash Dauenhauer and Karl Schulz.
"It's quite possible that something will work out that somebody won't bring a team," Evans said.
Dauenhauer and Schulz played well in a 3-6 loss to South Tahoe's No. 1 team. They also pulled out their first round match 6-4 when on a beautiful passing shot down the alley by Schulz on match point. They won their other match 6-0.
Baron Brooks and Tim Suchsland also played well in a 3-6 loss to South Tahoe's No. 1 team and pulled out a 6-3 win in the final round after trailing 2-3.
Carson led 8-7 going into the final round and wins by Dauenhauer and Schulz and Brooks and Suchsland gave the Senators 11 points. But South Tahoe won the last two singles matches for the victory.