Playing in the 12th Annual All-American National Team Invitational in Newport Beach last weekend, the Palisades boys’ tennis team went toe-to-toe with some of the country’s top teams and finished Saturday with a 2-2 record. In the opener, the Dolphins took on Corona Del Mar and held leads in all three doubles matches, but only the No. 1 team of Oliver Thornton and Robbie Bellamy held on to win. In singles, all five matches stayed close, but Pali dropped three’and though the Dolphins trailed only 53-50 in total games combined, they lost the match, 5-3. Next, Pali took on Potomac from McLean, Virginia, and was poised to win the back draw title. However, a foot injury to No. 1 singles player Bellamy led to his uncharacteristic 8-0 loss. Meanwhile, Thornton, Max Licona and Sam Catanzaro each won singles and the Dolphins won one doubles match to give Pali a 4-4 tie. However, because of the tiebreaker of total games won, the Dolphins lost, 51-50. The Dolphins bounced back to defeat two defending state champions, Christ Church of Greenville, South Carolina, 6-2, and later in the day, Regis Jesuit of Aurora, Colorado, 5-3. The doubles teams swept all six of their matches, going a combined 48-13 against Christ Church and Regis Jesuit. For the tournament, Thornton went 3-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. Palisades plays away at Venice on Monday, March 28 at 2:30 p.m. and returns home Wednesday for a 2:30 p.m. match against LACES.
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