By Zach Strohecker and James Oliden, Apr. 18, 2022
On Friday, April 15, competitors packed the CPP tennis courts for a singles and doubles tournament with non-stop action and high-level play hosted by ASI Campus Recreation.
Cal Poly Pomona’s tennis courts saw plenty of play with a singles pool of 27 players and three pairs of doubles teams. Both brackets offered the prize of $25 in Bronco Bucks for first place.
The singles bracket pitted the players into a five-round gauntlet with the later stages featuring fierce competition. As the singles tournament came down to the last two participants, both players went back-and-forth up to the final round. The two participants’ competitiveness was on display as both players left everything on the court. Josh Lebel, an undeclared student, scored the last point over the runner-up, computer science major Darrik Houck, to win the tournament.
“I am tired,” said Lebel. “This was my first time playing since COVID started. I think everyone played pretty well, and it was nice seeing everyone out here.”
Hard hit balls were flying back and forth as sneakers squeaking across the court could be heard as the doubles play began. The doubles tournament ran fast with each team playing two games, and the team with the best record winning the tournament. Economics major Skylar Lee and Ryan Trin, a computer science major, would have to face the duo of fellow students, Jannik Harms and Oscar Griehsel Facey in the championship.
“It was my first time playing with him,” said Trin. “I haven’t seen him since high school, so when I saw him warming up, I asked if he wanted to do doubles.”
The makeshift duo of Trin and Lee won the doubles tournament with a convincing win that left both teams exhausted.
In the singles tournament, players were eliminated after a single loss, and many wished to play more and organized a consolation bracket for fun.
“Usually, if we have fewer players we’ll do a loser’s bracket, and whoever wins the loser’s bracket will play the champion,” said Noah Campbell, ASI sports supervisor. “When we have a lot of people like this, we won’t do a loser’s bracket because it takes more time.”
According to Campbell, this tournament garnered more attention than the courts have seen in a while. Players from the CPP Tennis Club were out in force. Many others were participating for the first time in CPP tennis.
Tennis club member Houck was ecstatic because of the exposure the club got once the tournament concluded.
“We haven’t really taken much initiative to put ourselves out there,” said Houck. “This tournament was perfect for people to get exposed to the tennis club.”
The large turnout allowed for competitive and high-energy matches throughout the tournament. The contagious energy caused participants to stay in good spirits and want more tennis action after the tournament concluded.
“This was really fun, because everyone was just trying to have a good time,” said Lee.
To find more information on upcoming events and tournaments, visit the ASI website.
Featured image by Zach Strohecker.
