Rain wins out in Flintridge Prep-Glendale match

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Try as they did, the Flintridge Prep and host Glendale High boys’ tennis teams just couldn’t play quick enough to get past the rain.

Despite an early start to Wednesday’s nonleague match, the rains caught up to the teams, forcing an end to the match with the Nitros clinging to a 7-6 lead over the Rebels in a showdown that will not reflect on either team’s record and will not be continued at a later date.

“We started early and we were moving really good,” Glendale Coach Bob Davidson said. “I thought we were gonna make it.”

Instead, the teams settled for what amounted to a live practice.

“It’s kind of annoying, we just wanted to finish it off,” said Rebels Coach Ron Catano. “It was looking good for us.”

Catano, whose team is 10-5 and 1-2 in the Prep League, thought his team was on the right track to a win due to matchups, though the third-round sets in progress were all close.

Davidson thought it was too close to call.

“It could’ve gone either way,” he said.

Davidson got a doubles sweep from his No. 1 tandem of Jeff Asano and Elliot Kim, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, while Ashot Papikian won his two completed sets, 6-2, 6-2.

“He was playing the best he’s played all year,” said Davidson of Papikian, who defeated Prep’s Alex Wood in a battle of No. 1s.

Jon Azizian and the duo of Alex Levin and Edgar Hakobyan also won sets for Glendale (6-8, 4-6 in Pacific League).

Eric Kazangian won his two singles sets, 6-1, 6-0 for Prep. In doubles, all three Rebels teams — John Lee and John Kim, Reza Ghessari and David Chou and Kent Byun and Koby Hayashi — won single sets, as did Wood in singles.

Glendale faces Burbank today as it battles for fourth in league, while Prep takes on league frontrunner Chadwick on Tuesday.