Taking on the Goliaths

By Sean Ammerman

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

Foothill boys tennis coach Mark Richards insists the secret to his team's 8-1 record has been the depth of its doubles play.

The success begins with the brother doubles tandem of senior Danny Dion and junior Kevin Dion, who have led the Falcons with a 14-3 record as of Oct. 1.

The duo helped secure Foothill's second-place finish in the Southeast Division with final round wins against Silverado on Sept. 9 and Green Valley High on Sept. 18.

Foothill defeated both teams, which are tied for third place, by a narrow 10-8 margin.

"As brothers, we communicate better on the court," Danny Dion said. "I pretty much know what he's going to do before he does it. If we ever have any problems we leave it off the court."

Foothill enters the Sunrise Regional playoffs on Oct. 7 as a No. 2 seed from the Southeast Division for the first time in school history.

The only blemish came against league power Coronado, which handily beat the Falcons 16-2.

Richards said his team will have to rely on its competitive drive to avenge the loss in a likely playoff rematch.

"Obviously we don't have the kids who get the tournament play that Coronado's kids get," Richards said. "We have a lot more of the blue-collar tennis players. Most of our kids who play also play baseball or track or other sports. What our team lacks in tennis background, we make up for in the competitive drive they get from playing those other sports."

Senior David Witt, who plays doubles with senior Nick Gegen, has seen the program improve from missing the playoffs four years ago to advancing to the region semifinals last season.

"Every year I've played we have gotten a little bit better," he said. "Last year we finally made it past the first round and this year we expect to go further. It motivates us a lot because every year we finish with a bitter taste in our mouths. It means no more tennis if you lose, so we want to keep playing."

The Falcons' lone player with club experience is sophomore John Qualls, who leads their singles players with a 16-7 record.

Qualls improved through daily practice at the Las Vegas Hilton Tennis Academy and is poised to be one of the top prep players by his senior year.

In the meantime, he hopes to help Foothill program take another step forward in this year's postseason.

"It feels great to be in our situation," Qualls said.

"For the playoffs, I'm just going to try to swing away. You have to stay consistent and not focus on too many winners," he said.

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or [email protected].