Boys tennis: Branson set for title rematch against Redwood

Last year was arguably the best season in the history of the Branson School boys tennis program with MCAL and North Coast Section championships complementing an unbeaten season.

The second-seeded Bulls took a huge step in defending their 2023 league title with a 6-1 win over third-seeded Marin Catholic on Wednesday at College of Marin in the MCAL semifinals.

Standing in Branson’s way of a repeat is regular-season league champ and top-seeded Redwood, which dispatched Archie Williams 7-0. The Giants won 6-1 against Branson (15-2) earlier in the season after losing to the Bulls three times a year ago.

The MCAL final is Friday at 4 p.m. at Tam High.

“We had a match against Redwood that we did not win,” said Branson senior Oliver Goldman. “Going into the MCAL finals everything is off the table. We’re here to win, we’re here to play strong and we’re going to try to repeat this year.”

Not only did Branson go 23-0 last year, but the Bulls also captured their first MCAL title since 2001 and added the NCS Division II title for the first time since 2013.

“We had a really strong senior class and mentors last year and that has carried over,” said Goldman. “Going undefeated — we didn’t lose — was such a strong season for everybody. Coming into this season we know we have a target on our backs.”

Goldman and James Stovell were put to the test in the No. 2 doubles position against Marin Catholic’s Charlie Miller and Mac Abele before producing the same consistency and rhythm that distinguished the Bulls last year. The Branson duo prevailed 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 in one of two doubles matches that featured hard-fought tiebreakers.

In No. 3 doubles, Branson’s Cal Keenly and Zander Alpert battled Milo Vidyarthi and David Shepard to a tiebreaker score of 14-12 to take the first set 7-6. The second set was also decided by a tiebreaker as the Bulls started to pull away from Marin Catholic in the team score.

First off the court on Wednesday was Branson’s No. 3 singles player Mason Ogborne, who defeated Ajax Constantin 6-1, 6-0. At No. 2 singles, the Bulls got another quick win from Ishwar Jayaraman, who polished off Toby Tobin 6-0, 6-0.

Also winning in straight sets for Branson were No. 1 singles player Chase Hoeveler and the No. 1 doubles team of brothers Tommie and Finn Higgins. Marin Catholic’s only win came at No 4 singles where Felix Adam beat Griffin Cooper 6-4, 6-2.

According to Marin Catholic coach Corey Cheng, the Wildcats (13-7) expect to receive an at-large berth in the NCS Division II tournament. Cheng was very pleased with the Wildcats’ efforts against the defending league champs and says that having Branson and Redwood in MCAL forces his program to rise to the challenge.

“We were into the match today,” said Cheng. “I give full credit to Branson. They’re a great team. I’m just proud of our guys for competing today.”

In the other semifinal, Redwood swept Archie Williams. The Giants’ Julian Zhang blanked the Peregrine Falcons’ Johan Jacobs, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. The Giants also got singles wins from Jackson Sichel, Alejandro Puentes and Will Greenwald.