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PREP TENNIS

Albuquerque High boys, Academy girls claim metro tennis crowns

Bulldogs rally past La Cueva and Chargers edge Sandia in new team-focused format

Albuquerque High’s Christian Olson, left, and Cooper LeBlanc celebrate their come-from-behind win Saturday over La Cueva’s David Elliott and Ronin Reznik in the finals of the Albuquerque Metro Tennis Championships at Ventana Ranch Park. The Bulldogs took the championship 4-3.
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The Albuquerque High boys have been banging quite loudly on the door of the high school state tennis scene recently, finishing runner-up in consecutive years at the state championships, but the Bulldogs have not quite broken through.

And while winning the Albuquerque Metro Championships is not nearly the same thing as carting off with the big blue trophy in May, Saturday’s hefty addition to the AHS showcase is still an awfully big deal.

“I keep using these words all season long,” Bulldogs coach Mike Rocca said. “It’s tenacity and it is hard work playing for one another, and they did it.”

On the girls side, Albuquerque Academy held off a stubborn Sandia squad to win 5-2 in what was the first of a new format for the metro tournament.

The individual brackets were eliminated. Instead, the 18-team field was divided into six pools of three. The six-pool winners advanced to the championship bracket, with the top two-seeded teams earning first-elimination-round byes.

“It’s a different format this year, but it gives them a lot more matches,” Chargers coach Amy Badger said. “And it’s definitely, obviously, a team thing. We’re all in it together.”

For the Bulldogs, the final matches were a two-day gauntlet. First, they eliminated 22-time defending Class 4A champ Albuquerque Academy on Friday, before coming back Saturday to upend nemesis and six-time defending 5A state champ La Cueva 4-3, roaring from behind in all three doubles matches.

“I couldn’t be more proud, and I told them (Friday) after our win at Academy, and I feel the same way today,” Rocco said. “I’ve been coaching youth sports for a long time, and I’ve never been more proud of a team then I’ve been these past two days.”

It was a gutsy performance throughout the week as Albuquerque High relied on its depth, using all 10 varsity members. What’s more, No. 1 Mitchell Rocca, the coach’s son, tweaked his leg in his singles match against the Bears’ Ketan Garg.

Still, Mitchell Rocca was able to stand alongside partner Julian Olson in the final and deciding doubles match against Garg and Noah Sasser.

“Ketan played incredible that match,” the younger Rocca said of his singles match. “There was nothing I could do, but doubles with Jules as my partner, Julian. I mean, we’ve never lost and I just knew that we would always have a chance, even if I couldn’t move. So I’m glad Julian carried me through that one.”

Albuquerque High’s Mitchell Rocca eyes a shot in his singles match against La Cueva’s Ketan Garg on Saturday in the Albuquerque Metro Tennis Championships at Ventana Ranch Park. While Garg won the singles match, Rocca and his doubles partner, Julian Olson, won their match to clinch the championship for the Bulldogs.

While the two were mobbed when they clinched the winning point of the three-set match, it was the No. 2 doubles match that proved crucial as Christian Olson and Cooper LeBlanc pulled out a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over David Elliott and Ronin Reznik moments before to get the match even.

“Just fight from all of our teammates,” Olson said in explaining the Bulldogs’ attitude. “Like with my doubles partner Cooper, we came back. We were down in both doubles matches. We came back. Pulled it out. So we just fight. From everybody playing, coaching, from the coaches. It was just all of it brought together, brought us to the finish line.”

For the girls, the Chargers got a standout effort from precocious eighth-grader Sadye Bruce, who swept her match at No. 1 singles, losing just one game in each set.

Albuquerque Academy’s Beatrice Lorenz, left, congratulates Elaina Dodge of Sandia as the Matadors player took a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 decision Saturday during the finals of the Albuquerque Metro Tennis Championships at Ventana Ranch Park. While Dodge won the match, the Chargers won the Metro Championships 5-2.

“I feel like it’s definitely a big confidence boost for our entire team towards districts and state,” she said.

Although the final score shows the Chargers winning handily, the match was tighter than it appeared, Badger said.

“The match was very close and the tides were turning back and forth,” she said. “And Sandia has got a great group of girls. And it just was always a wonderful competition for us. We really have a lot of respect for them and what the coaches have been doing there.”