Clovis' Combs singles himself out

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Buchanan and Clovis West may have shared the Tri-River Athletic Conference boys regular-season team tennis title, but it was Clovis High's Andrew Combs who pushed through the field for the league singles crown at the TRAC individual championships May 2 at Clovis East.

Combs, the tournament's top seed, defeated No. 2 Yazan Amro of Buchanan 6-3, 6-0 in the finals.

"We definitely have a lot of good players [in this league]," said the sophomore Combs, third in the league singles tournament a year ago. "You definitely have to be at the top of your game to be able to compete and win every day."

In doubles action, Clovis West's Vincent Paganetti, last season's singles runner-up, and Stefan Loop (11-0) earned the top seed heading into the Central Section tournament with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Clovis East's Jake Cavanaugh and Dave Revell -- who teamed with Paul Dhanjan to win the 2007 doubles event -- in the finals.

"They gave us a tough time," Paganetti said. "The first couple of matches we played really well, and in the final, the first set we played pretty good, but the second set, they came back and started pushing us."

Going to a deciding third set wasn't a concern for an intense Loop, a freshman whose father, Steve, coaches tennis at Fresno City.

"I served well, and we play good doubles together," Stefan Loop said. "We play better when we're fired up."

The doubles teams of Clovis High's Danny Chan and Riley Kane (third place) and Clovis West's Brice Austin and Robin Shin (fourth) also advanced to Valley.

The league win earned Combs the No. 4 seed in the Central Section individual championships May 10 at Bakersfield's In Shape Laurel Glen. Bakersfield High will host the doubles competition. The top-four finishers in league advanced to Valley.

Buchanan's Brandon Avedikian had his bid for a TRAC repeat end with a 6-0, 6-1 semifinal loss to Combs. Despite the loss, Avedikian rebounded for the bronze with a 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 win over Clovis East's Danny Brown. It was Brown's second straight three-set outing, having lost to Amro 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals in a tough match for both players.

"It actually wasted a lot of my energy. The style I needed to play was kind of aggressive, and I didn't have enough energy for that," said Amro, a sophomore who placed second in the 2007 TRAC doubles final with teammate Vincent Resciniti. "Combs is a pretty consistent player, so to beat that I have to be more aggressive, and that extra set the match before kind of put me at a disadvantage."

Amro, Avedikian and Brown will join Combs at the section tournament.

In Central Section team playoff action May 7, No. 7 Clovis East hosted No. 10 Sanger, while No. 12 Liberty was at No. 5 Clovis High. Results were unavailable at press time.