Back in January when the boys tennis season at Coronado High School loomed, head coach Jeff Harrington knew he had a solid group of boys leading the squad.
From young star Savo Simic, to experienced seniors Ethan Harrington and Jesse Piepenkotter, Harrington felt this team was in store for an exciting year.
Now roughly three months later, those three players along with Nicolas Hacker were the ones to earn themselves a spot in the Individual League Championships.
League play ended when Coronado was taken down by the Santa Fe Christian Eagles in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division II Championships.
The efforts of Simic and crew throughout the season had placed Coronado in the seventh seed of that tournament, but with the Eagles at the second seed, Coronado had its hands full.
According to Harrington, the loss was difficult but everyone was looking forward to watching the Islanders’ best face off in their individual matchups.
League Championships
The highly anticipated League Championships kicked off during the week of April 26, and there was the potential of the Coronado boys moving on to CIF Individuals the following week.
Simic was the Islanders’ front runner—according to Harrington—as he entered the matches as the fifth seed. The other boys weren’t ranked, but were still competing for the same end goal as Simic.
Hacker, Harrington, and Piepenkotter weren’t able to make it past the first rounds, according to their coach. Simic won his first two matches but was eliminated in the quarterfinals, which put an end to Coronado’s season as a whole.
Promising future
Coach Harrington still sees a lot of promise in his bunch despite losing three seniors who played major roles in the team’s success.
According to Harrington, the seniors served as more than just talented tennis players, but as mentors to the younger guys.
“Our seniors will certainly be missed.”
-Boys tennis coach Jeff Harrington.
“Our seniors will certainly be missed…unequivocally. But, it is encouraging to know that most of our best players are sophomores and freshmen,” said Harrington.
Led by Simic, the Islanders will look to rebound from this year that held plenty of promise.
A young core that is blossoming into more experienced players will be in search of another CIF team appearance, and in hopes of sending more players to individual championships.
