Slow start leaves Nitros wondering

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — A poor start once again doomed the Glendale High boys’ tennis team.

Once again, Glendale Coach Bob Davidson saw his doubles teams struggle. It’s a pattern Davidson would like to see change.

“When we play teams we are fairly even with, we can’t afford to make mistakes,” Davidson said after Glendale suffered a 10-8 nonleague home loss against Campbell Hall on Monday afternoon. “We had a real bad start in doubles in the first round and we should have won two out of three sets.

“It’s a match I felt like we played well and we could have won. We just got behind early and we constantly had to play catch-up the rest of the way.”

Glendale (3-3) saw its No. 1 doubles team of Jeff Asano and Elliot Kim win two sets (6-4, 6-0). The other doubles victory for Glendale was turned in by Edgar Hakobyan and Alex Levin (6-0).

Campbell Hall (3-2) saw its No. 1 doubles tandem of Beau Townsend and Ryan Samii sweep their three sets (6-2, 6-4, 6-3).

The Vikings swept the fist three doubles sets and captured a singles set to build a 4-2 lead after the first round.

“We easily could have been up,” said Davidson, who guided the Nitros to a second-place finish in the Pacific League and an appearance in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs last season. “Then we settled down and started to play much better.

“We are inconsistent and inexperienced. We have moments of potential and then we make too many mistakes.”

The Nitros received another quality effort from senior singles player Ashot Papikian.

Papikian swept his three sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, to put the Nitros in position to potentially win the contest.

“His biggest win came against [Campbell Hall No. 1 singles player Justin Sinclair],” Davidson said. “When he plays with confidence, he’s hard to beat.

“When he loses his confidence, he can lose to a player he shouldn’t lose to. He’s got a very good shot and he’s tough when he’s confident.”

Glendale also received one singles win apiece from Mike Unanian (6-1) and Joe Azizian (6-0).

Campbell Hall Coach Steve Kuechel, who received two singles wins each from Sinclair and Graham Benjamin and a pair of doubles victories from Jeremy Gold and Alex Harrison, said he expected a tough match.

“We’ve been playing them for a long time,” said Kuechel, who saw Glendale record a 10-8 win against the Vikings at L.A. Valley College last season. “Every time we play Glendale, it’s always 10-8.”

The Nitros will return to action with a league home match against Pasadena at 3:30 p.m. today. Glendale is 1-1 in league, with its lone victory coming against visiting Burbank on Thursday.

Get in touch CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228 or charles.rich@latimes.com.