Doubled down

The great unknown that was the 5A-II boys tennis team state quarterfinals appeared to be a conquerable task for No. 5 seed San Luis at the midpoint of Wednesday's matches.

But when the tension kicked up a notch as the competition turned into a best-of-three set of doubles matches, Phoenix-Pinnacle was able to fall back on what got its team through the same predicament two days ago in the first round.

Tied at 3-3 after the singles portion, No. 13-seeded Pioneers' No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams pulled out two more wins to help their team survive and advance with a 5-3 victory.

"It was tight. Very, very, very tight." San Luis coach Paul Zenker said. "I'm surprised at how things ended up. Our guys played with major heart and busted their gluts out there to get where they're at."

Pinnacle, which upset Anthem-Boulder Creek on Monday in large thanks to the same two doubles teams, got its biggest wins in singles and doubles from Joe Hennessy and Andrew Kissenger, Hennessy driving his No. 2 doubles team in the closest match of the day against the Sidewinders' Rafael Rodriguez and Jorge Villicana.

"They came through Monday, they've come through all year against good teams and they came through today," Pinnacle coach Brock Heykoop said said of his doubles teams. "The way San Luis was playing I was a bit nervous. They were pretty solid one through five, and our guys pulled out some big matches."

Partnered with Jordan Clarke in a clash of No. 3 and No. 4 singles players from both teams, Hennessy pounded one overhead winner after another into the court to take an early 4-1 lead. But the Sidewinders climbed back into the match winning four of the next five games to even the score.

"It was easy. The other player was not as good as the other one, so we tried to play everything to him," Rodriguez said. "I felt we had a chance, but we didn't get our stuff together."

Rodriguez and Villicana, often playing side by side along the baselines, found plenty of room down the alleys as both Pinnacle players crept toward the middle of the court to keep things tied a 7-7. But Hennessy took control of the match down the stretch, pushing balls through the open lane in the center of the court with his southpaw serves and returns.

The No. 2 doubles' match, which started earlier than the other two as Kissenger closed out his grueling 6-4, 6-4 win against San Luis No. 1 single Eric Rodriguez, put Pinnacle in prime position with their No. 3 doubles team already leading up 7-0. Kissenger and Jared Levin lost one game to San Luis' Juan Lara and Adrian Maranon, but quickly dispatched them to clinch the win. Rodriguez and Max Pinnow had a 4-1 lead in the other doubles match when play was ended.

"We've had close matches. We had an in-town rival match with Cibola that came down to our last match," Zenker said. "This one came down to doubles, and they took it."

Pinnow (6-2, 6-4), Rafael Rodriguez (6-0, 6-0) and Lara (6-3, 6-2) had the Sidewinders three singles wins. Pinnow used his signature backhand to keep 6-foot-4 Eric Statz on the move most of the day, while Rodriguez and Lara wisely kept the ball in play and let Clarke and Levin self-destruct on unforced errors.

"The key was putting everything in," Rodriguez said. "The guy (Clarke) had no feet, so I just sliced it and lobbed it all the time. I noticed he was hobbling when he had to run, so I knew I had that advantage."

The Pioneers will go for their third straight upset on Monday against No. 1 ranked Ironwood Ridge in the semifinals. San Luis finishes its season 14-3 with its second region title and first state tournament win safely in the books. The Sidewinders also have a chance to compete for individual achievements in the state singles and doubles tournaments.

"These guys have been dreaming about this for a very long team and they're the first group to make it this far and they wanted it," Zenker said. "But they cheered each other on and stood by each other win, lose or draw. It was a beautiful thing to see."