Brawley boys tennis team eyes IVL tournament

The Imperial Valley League tennis tournament kicks off this Tuesday with revenge and bragging rights on the line

BRAWLEY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Brawley Union High School boys tennis team saw their regular season come to an end last Wednesday with an 11-7 loss to Vincent Memorial.

It was the second meeting of the year between the two schools. The first match didn't bounce the way Brawley had hoped for in falling 10-8, the second time around was nearly an identical result.

Calexico would claim the regular season title the very next day with a win over Vincent Memorial. Brawley and Vincent Memorial tied for second despite the Scot's defeating Brawley twice.

"It all depends how you look at it when you look at the standings," Brawley first year head coach Marcelo Rodriguez said. "Sure they beat us twice for two of our three losses. But, we defeated Calexico once, they didn't. They also lost to SouthWest."

The current CIF Division 3 UTR ( universal tennis rankings ) also agree with Coach Rodriguez. Calexico sits at number two and Brawley at number six with the top 13 teams moving on to CIF San Diego Section play. Vincent Memorial currently finds themselves on the outside looking in.

"Coming in, we came in really really hot," Rodriguez said. "We went the first half of the season really strong and we kind of fell off a little bit during the second part of the season."

Despite the loss, Brawley's third doubles team got revenge on the only team they lost to all season. Gilbert Cruz and Jared Saldana won 6-4 this match against Vincent Memorial's Sebastian Arguelles and Juan Hodgers.

Rodriguez said he is proud of his team. He said they have always been good but this last year has been better.

Brawley's key player, sophomore Jacob Montesinos, didn't play in the final match of the season due to becoming dehydrated during last Monday's match against Calexico.

Rodriguez said Jacob passed out due to heat exhaustion and had to be rushed to El Centro Regional Medical Center and then was flown out to a children's hospital in San Diego.

"The only thing I do remember is waking up in the hospital in El Centro," Jacob said. "All I know is I tried. When it was five all and all tied up, I really wanted to give up but, I just had that motivation inside me because my team would watch me and they supported me. They gave me the motivation to continue, at least finish the match and I did but I lost at the end, but no matter what, I never gave up,"

Jacob was released from the hospital on Tuesday and back with his teammates on Wednesday but as a cheerleader. He's been working over the weekend to prepare for the IVL tournament which begins this upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday at Southwest High school.

Montesinos says he just needs a little relaxation and he'll be good to go for the Imperial Valley League (IVL) tournament. IVL is where all the players in the valley compete in a single tournament for a spot in CIF - San Diego Section.

Jacob Montesinos father, Ernesto Montesinos, who is also the assistant coach, loves being able to watch his son play the sport he once did.

"My hopes for this team is honestly for them to carry out tennis throughout their whole life," Ernesto Montesinos said.

Ernesto Montesinos wants to continue to see the boys tennis team at Brawley excel.

"We're planning on bringing a program that will last for a while basically,"Ernesto Montesinos said. "Hopefully if we're not here in the future, coaches can pick up on our tactics and move forward."

For the league tournament, coaches supplied the names of the participants over the weekend and pairings will be announced early in the week.

"Each Imperial League school can submit up to five entries for each category," Vincent Memorial head coach David Wong said. "The top five finishers in each category will play in the CIF San Diego section singles and doubles postseason tournament beginning on Monday May 9th."

The local postseason singles and doubles tournament will determine who is the number one singles player and the number one doubles team in the Imperial Valley and hopefully be decided by Wednesday afternoon.