Congratulations

John Spoerl
Rusty White
Nader Zahedi
Andrew Swart

Big 8 All Conference Team

team gpa-3.26!!

The Beavers’ John Spoerl and Rusty White were the second doubles seed from the North at the tournament at El Camino College in Torrence.  The duo beat the No. 7 seed from the South in the first round, but lost to the eventual state champions from Ventura in the second round, 7-6, 6-3.  Spoerl and White were the only doubles team from the North to score a first-round victory over the South.

John Spoerl and Rusty White won one round before losing in the qualifying round during the tournament at Chabot College in Hayward.  Spoerl, the No. 5 seed lost in straight sets, and Rusty White, the No. 8 seed, also went in two sets.  Nadr Zahedi and Jon Lee lost their first round matches.  In doubles play, Spoerl and White, seeded fifth, reached the NorCal doubles final before falling to Santa Rosa in two sets.  En route to the final, the pair beat three seeded teams.  The teams of Andrew Swart-Zahedi and Lee-Jon Lup both lost in the first round.

The Beavers had some disappointing results at the three-day event in Ojai.  John Spoerl, the No. 12 seed in the singles bracket, got sick and retired from his match despite leading 6-4, 4-1.  Rusty White came out flat and lost in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.  Spoerl and White, playing as the No. 10 seed in doubles, had to pull out of their first round match-up because of Spoerl’s illness.  Jon Lee and Andrew Swart played a very good match against a highly-ranked duo from Riverside, pushing it to three intense sets before falling 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

The Beavers lost their first round playoff match with the Gladiators.  Rusty White and Nadr Zahedi earned hard-fought, three-set wins at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, and White teamed with John Spoerl eased to a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles, but ARC was unable to pull off a win in any other match.

The Beavers had an excellent showing at the league tournament at Diablo Valley.  The playoff brackets were played through the quarterfinals, and each quarterfinalist advanced to the NorCal tournament at Chabot on May 1-3.  ARC is the only team in the North to have every player qualify for the NorCals.  ARC advanced four in singles and all doubles teams, meaning that all six ARC players advanced.  John Spoerl, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, No. 4 Rusty White, No. 8 Nader Zahedi, and non-seeded Jon Lee reached the quarterfinals to automatically qualify for the NorCals.  Lee beat the No. 7 seed and No. 10 seed to reach the quarterfinals and advance to Hayward.  No. 12 seed Andrew Swart lost in the qualifying round to the No. 6 seed, 7-6(7), 6-2.  All three doubles teams qualified for the NorCal Tournament.  The second seeded team of Spoerl and White and the No. 6 seed team of Swart and Zahedi automatically qualified by reaching the quarterfinals.  The pair of Lee and Lon Lup lost to the No. 7 seed but received an at-large bid to compete in the regional tournament.

By virtue of losing twice to the Bear Cubs, the Beavers settled for second play in the Big 8 after losing on the road. ARC’s depth was not enough to overcome the top four Santa Rosa players.  No. 2 Rusty White and No. 3 Nader Zahedi fell in three sets, and that proved too much for the Beavers to overcome. No. 5 Jon Lee and No. 6 Jon Lup each won straight-set singles victories.  The pair then teamed up at No. 3 doubles to score the Beavers’ only win in doubles play.

Playing against four of the top ten ranked schools in the South, the Beavers went 2-2 at the two-day event in Fresno.  ARC beat No. 8 Saddleback 6-3 and No. 10 Glendale 6-2, and lost to 9-0 to Ventura, the state’s top-ranked team, and 9-0 to No. 3 Grossmont.  Against Ventura, the Beavers competed without Nader Zahedi, who won both the No. 3 singles matches he played in over the weekend.  Zahedi paired with Andrew Swart at No. 2 doubles, and the duo won clinching matches against Saddleback and Glendale.  Zahedi and No. 1 singles player John Spoerl both missed the match with Grossmont.  In his other three matches, Spoerl went 2-1 and teamed up with Rusty White to go 2-1 at No. 1 doubles. 

With No. 1 John Spoerl and No. 2 Rusty White resting, the Beavers’ new lineup produced the same results against the Knights.  Each player moved up two spots and Noah Winters and Thomas Owens moved into the lineup without skipping a beat.  Winters won his No. 5 singles match 6-0, 6-0, and Owens swept a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 6.  Jon Lee, playing at No. 3, turned in the strongest performance in his 6-0, 6-1 win, and he later joined Jon Lup to earn a convincing 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles.

The Beavers blanked the Wolverines and continued to roll through Big 8 competition, winning every match in straight sets.  Rusty White won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2, and Nader Zahedi won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 to post the most convincing scores.

The Beavers had another dominating performance in Big 8 play, blanking the 49ers on the road. Only one match, No. 1 doubles, went beyond two sets as John Spoerl and Rusty White came back to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.  ARC lost no more than three games in any other singles or double match.

The Beavers bounced back from their first loss of the season with the strong showing against the visiting Vikings.  ARC took four of the six singles matches and then locked up the decision with a sweep in doubles play.  Nader Zahedi turned in the best singles performance of the match, scoring an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3.  John Spoerl went three sets to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 at No. 1, Andrew Swart outlasted his opponent at No. 4, 7-5, 7-5, and Jon Lup battled to a 7-6(8), 6-4 win at No. 6.  The No. 1 doubles team of Spoerl and Rusty White played well in their 6-2, 6-2 decision, but the key win was at No. 2 where Zahedi and Swart rallied from a lackluster second set to take the deciding set 6-4 and seal the team’s win.

The Beavers suffered their first loss of the season as the visiting Bear Cubs pulled off key wins to edge ARC in the fight for first place in the Big 8.  ARC lost close matches at No. 1 singles and No. 3 doubles, and that was all the advantage Santa Rosa needed.  Going into doubles play tied 3-3, the Bear Cubs picked up wins in two of the three doubles matches to earn the victory.  Nader Zahedi fought through the flu to win both of his matches, and Jon Lee turned in a strong performance at No. 5 singles.  The No. 2 doubles team of Zahedi and Andrew Swart came from a set back and a break to win their match.

The Beavers breezed past the Knights to remain unbeaten on the season.  Each match was won in two sets, the closest being Noah Winters’s 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 and the No. 2 doubles match, won by Jon Lee and Thomas Owens, 6-4, 6-1.

march 6, 2008

The Beavers dominated the 49ers to earn their second conference win and stay unbeaten on the year.  No matches went beyond two sets, and ARC lost only 10 games in the nine matches.  No. 6 Jon Lup, the No. 2 doubles team of Nader Zahedi and Andrew Swart, and the No. 3 pairing of Jon Lee and Thomas Owens all won 6-0, 6-0.  No. 1 John Spoerl, No. 3 Zahedi, and No. 5 Lee each won their singles match with near perfection, losing only one game in the two sets.

The Beavers powered their way past a very competitive Vikings team in the Big 8 opener.  ARC did not lose a set to Diablo Valley, who came into the season with ARC as the defending co-champions of the conference.  Noah Winters stepped into the starting lineup and delivered with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6, as did Thomas Owens, who teamed with Jon Lee at No. 3 doubles to produce a convincing 6-3, 7-6(10) win.

The Beavers were not at the top of their game, but they showed perseverance and fought hard to pull out the win.  In crucial doubles matches, ARC lost the first set at both No. 1 and 2, but both pairs came back to win and clinch the victory for the team.  Nader Zahedi and Andrew Swart turned in impressive performances in singles and in their last two sets of No. 2 doubles.  In singles action, Zahedi won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3, and Swart was just as efficient, winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4.  No. 2 Rusty White went three sets to earn his win in singles, and he then teamed up with John Spoerl for a come from behind win at No. 1 doubles.

The Beavers finished second in the field of 14 teams at Modesto, edging perennial powers Cabrillo, Chabot, and Santa Rosa but trailing top seeded Fresno City.  Playing in flights made up of some of the top players in the North, ARC had three singles players reach the finals of their flights—one champion—two make it to the semifinals, and two doubles teams advance to the semis.  Andrew Swart won the two-day tournament’s No. 4 flight with an amazing 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(20) victory in the final over Fresno City’s Troy Kellenberger.  The other two Beavers to advance to the finals were No. 3 Nader Zahedi and No. 5 Jon Lee.  Jon Spoerl and Rusty White made it to the semifinals at No. 1 and 2, respectively.  In doubles competition, No. 1 Spoerl and White fell to eventual champion Santa Rosa, and the No. 2 pairing of Swart and Zahedi also lost to the Santa Rosa team that won the flight.

The Beavers opened the season with a dominating performance over the Panthers.  Each singles match and all three doubles matches were decided in two sets, and Sac City won three games in only three of the nine matches.  No. 1 John Spoerl (6-1, 6-2) won easily, and No. 2 Rusty White (6-1, 6-0) was especially dominant in his match.  No. 3 Nadr Zahedi (6-3, 6-0), No. 4 Andrew Swart (6-0, 6-2), No. 5 Jon Lup (6-3, 6-0), and No. 6 Noah Winters (6-2, 6-0) each won in convincing fashion.  Spoerl and White teamed up at No. 1 doubles and, along with No. 2 Zahedi and Swart, won 6-0, 6-0.  Lup and Thomas Owens paired up to complete the sweep, winning 6-1, 6-3.

september 28-30, 2007

ITA Pre-Season Tournament          

With seven teams participating in the 64-player tournament at Mission College in Santa Clara, the Beavers had three of the eight quarter finalists in singles, and two of the four in doubles.  John Spoerl reached the finals in singles while Rusty White and Nader Zahedi both advanced to the quarters.  Andrew Swart reached the third round.  Spoerl and White teamed up to play doubles, and the duo made it to the finals.  Swart paired up with Zahedi and played their way to the semis.