Boys tennis: Tam’s Bulger claims his first MCAL title
High school tennis is starting to grow on Witt Bulger. Despite waffling a little about whether he would play for Tam High this season, the 6-foot-3 sophomore has reeled off 12 consecutive wins against Marin County Athletic League foes.
Top-seeded Bulger played like a champ in the MCAL final on Wednesday at Marin Tennis Club, dispatching second-seeded Jackson Sichel of Redwood 6-3, 6-2.
“It was a fun match,” said Bulger. “I always look forward to playing Jackson.”
Bulger said once he secured a few solid victories against Branson and Redwood early in the season, he set his sights on claiming the MCAL title. As a freshman, Bulger lost in the MCAL second round to eventual champ Nickawn Namdar of Marin Catholic.
“I was thinking about if I would play and once I got a couple of good wins then it started to become a possibility — that I could really win MCAL,” said Bulger. “It’s definitely a big accomplishment.”
Bulger (12-0) will play in the North Coast Section Division I tournament May 5-6 at James Logan in Union City. Sichel (16-7) is expected to receive an at-large berth.
In the all-Branson doubles final, the second-seeded team of Max Goldman and Pete Stovell outlasted unseeded Chase Hoeveler and Leighton Fraser 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. The NCS Division II tournament is in Arcata, and both doubles teams are expected to receive berths.
Bulger was so motivated to win his first MCAL title that he practiced each morning before school to prepare for the three-day event. “I don’t usually do that before tournaments, and that definitely helped me,” he said.
If Bulger has a superstitious bone in his body, he should stick with the early-morning hitting sessions. The MCAL final was the most convincing of his three meetings against Sichel. Bulger also won 7-5, 6-1 and 4-6, 6-0, 12-10.
“Today I told myself I had to play aggressively,” said Bulger. “I knew that was the only way I could beat Jackson. I played aggressively the whole time –kept my foot on the gas.”
Bulger jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Sichel broke serve for the only time in the match. When Sichel followed up the break by holding serve to pull to within 4-2, it looked like the 6-foot-3 Redwood junior was about to make a major move.
But with the score at 5-3, Bulger regained the momentum with two huge serves to close out the set. Bulger’s serving was so impressive that he won at love early in the second set for a 3-1 lead. With Sichel playing catch-up, Bulger was just patient enough and aggressive when he needed to stifle Sichel again.
Besides sending two doubles teams to the MCAL final, league champ Branson also had both players in the third-place singles final. Tommie Higgins defeated Jeffrey Huang 6-3, 6-4.
Tam’s Tyler Byrne and Diego Castillo of Tam won the third-place doubles match when Redwood’s Chris Lee and Matt Benbow withdrew due to injury.
Besides Bulger’s performance, the depth of the MCAL champion Branson Bulls was another key story of the tournament held at Marin Tennis Club in San Rafael.
“I think this will prime them for NCS team tournament,” said Branson coach Chrissie Costamagna. “With all these kids playing at a top level, it’s just going to help us in our play in NCS.”
Costamagna said she will let her players decide if they want to compete in the singles and doubles NCS Division II tournaments since it’s more than four hours away.
It’s obvious the Bulls, who won their first MCAL team title since 2001, are fixed on adding an NCS crown to their collection. The NCS team tournaments are May 9-13.
“I’m just excited for these guys,” said Costamagna, who has already led the Branson girls tennis team to an NCS title. “I think they’re all amped up to do well in NCS as a team.”