Dawgs Headed to AREA SEMIS on Friday!

The sun went down. The lights went up. And Zach Gibson dug deep in his bag for his specs. He placed them upon his nose, and then put the Dawgs on his shoulders, carrying the team to a riveting 10-9 upset of Katy Tomkins Tuesday night under the stars inside The Pen. The victory advances the Dawg netters to the Area Semifinals on Friday at Seven Lakes, Houston’s top ranked team.

“I don’t like being the last one,” Gibson said. “But I’m glad I could win it for the team.”

Gibson, who looked like Clark Kent, was super in his line 6 singles match, rolling past Harikanth Karanam 6-4, 6-1. It was Gibson’s finest moment of the season.

His heroics came after Brandon Kwok and Angel Li both lost tough super tiebreakers in match-clinching opportunities.

The Dawgs, which haven’t advanced in Area since 2013, had a solid start taking a 4-3 lead after the doubles session. Bo Wilson and My2 Ganesh did their thing at line 1, winning in straight sets. Agustin Galindez and Juan Forero had to win a 10-5 super tiebreaker for a win at line 2. The Dawgs won 3 of 5 super tiebreakers on the night.

Line 1 girls doubles was a thriller as Ria Devakottai and Lauryn Reyes won in a super tiebreaker as well. In line 3 doubles, the most crucial point of the first session was won by Sydni Rowland and Li.

Rowland continued her clutch play with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 win in line 5 singles. Reyes also rolled at line 2 singles.

In boys, Galindez, Ganesh and Forero all won.