2011 DVHS Tennis Team – Undefeated BVAL Champs

The Deer Valley High School Wolverines emerged undefeated in the Bay Valley Athletics League in Tennis (10-0-0). Taking down their rival, Heritage High School, twice during the season, the DVHS Wolverines were the undisputed champs of 2011. In addition, No. 1 Abid Ahmad took the BVAL Singles Title and brother Zahid Ahmad partnered with sophomore Cameron Yee to take the BVAL bronze in Doubles.

Season over for BVAL tennis teams

Courtesy of ThePress.net
by Michael Dixon

Last weekend’s North Coast Section matches at Oakley’s Diamond Hills Sports Club brought an end to the high school tennis season for most Bay Valley Athletic League athletes. The lone exception were Deer Valley’s tennis players, who qualified for Tuesday’s NCS team tournament.

The 12th-seeded Wolverines fell on Tuesday in the first round of the NCS team tournament, 6-1, to No. 5 seed Redwood of the Marin County Athletic League, ending the team’s season.

Deer Valley senior Abid Ahmad was the only local representative to win a set in last week’s overall NCS tournament, as he defeated Clayton Valley’s Jonathan Kim 6-3 in the first set of their match before dropping the final two sets by the same score. His first-set win marked the first time that a BVAL player had won a set in the NCS tournament.

The team of junior Zahid Ahmad and sophomore Cameron Yee were defeated by the Piedmont team of brothers Jon and USC-bound Matt Wang, who repeated their 2010 title. Ahmad and Yee qualified because a team from Mission San Jose couldn’t make the tournament.

“It’s a pretty advanced field,” said Wolverines head coach Brian Richardson. “Overall, the boys really performed well. They played as hard as they could. We have been building a few years to get to this point. Now we need to keep on working so we can make the next step.”

Heritage sent two senior-laden doubles teams to the NCS meet. Michael De La Madrid and Andrew Mucha were the BVAL’s top doubles team last year. They both played singles this year but reunited in the league tournament and beat previously undefeated teammates Matt De La Madrid and Collin Fridel in the league final.

De La Madrid and Mucha were defeated 6-0, 6-2 by the Miramonte team of Brian Tan and Luke Bohuslav. The Miramonte duo lost to the Wang brothers in the final. De La Madrid and Fridel were defeated 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round by Monte Vista’s Mark Meyer and Anthony Lim.

“They kept positive and didn’t get down. In doubles, you can’t have one guy getting down on the other guy, and that never happened,” said Heritage head coach Mike Carman. “Mike and Andrew were down 6-0, 5-0, but they came back to win two games, and that meant a lot to them.”

Joining the players from Deer Valley and Heritage was Freedom senior Jeff Matteri, who was runner-up to Ahmad in the BVAL tournament. In the NCS tournament, he was defeated by Campolindo’s Nolan Richard 6-1, 6-0. That ended a rollercoaster season for Matteri and one of the best individual careers a Freedom tennis player has ever known.

“He had a chance at redemption,” said head coach Steve Amaro. “He played the best that he could. He did play his best; he just played against a kid who’s been playing for 10 years longer.”

DVHS's Abid Ahmad wins 2011 BVAL Singles

Coach Brian Richardson's Deer Valley High School Tennis Team capped an undefeated 2011 Season in the Bay Valley Athletic League with a big BVAL Singles Championship win by No. 1 Player, Abid Ahmad. With Abid graduating and moving on to American Canyon College, the DVHS Team still has returning players Zahid Ahmad (Abid's younger brother) and Cameron Yee, who combined to take bronze place this year in BVAL Doubles.

DV triumph at league tennis championship

Courtesy of ThePress.net
by Justin Lafferty

In an exciting, back-and-forth match between two intense athletes, Deer Valley’s Abid Ahmad came up with a victory over Freedom’s Jeff Matteri to claim the singles title in Tuesday’s Bay Valley Athletic League Championship.

Ahmad, a senior, topped a frustrated Matteri 6-1, 6-4 in the final round. To get to the final, Ahmad defeated Matteri’s teammate, junior Justin Monge, in the semi-finals. He also topped Liberty’s Jordan Tickner, as well as Juan Morales and Servando Reyes, both of Freedom.

In last year’s BVAL tournament, Matteri defeated Ahmad, then playing for Antioch. Matteri’s road to the final match included a tough semi-finals win (7-6, 6-3) over Antioch’s Ikram Najib, who took third place after defeating Monge.

“I’m really happy, and playing against Jeff was amazing; I wish I could play him every day,” Ahmad said. “He’s a really nice kid; I really respect him.”

A few feet away, the doubles title game was underway, but the feeling was much more lighthearted. Both Heritage doubles teams – Mike De La Madrid/Andrew Mucha and Matt De La Madrid/Collin Friedel – advanced to the final. Though both teams were still hungry for the victory, it was more of a friendly match. Amid the laughing and fun, Mike De La Madrid and Mucha were able to repeat as doubles champions, 6-1, 6-1.

“That was our whole goal this season: we wanted to repeat and move onto NCS,” Mucha said. “Last year, we didn’t make it past the first round of NCS."

Deer Valley brothers excel on the tennis court

Courtesy of ThePress.net
by Justin Lafferty

Brothers Abid and Zahid Ahmad were playing tennis on Xbox one day when it occurred to them: why don’t we give this a shot in real life? It looked easy for the virtual Andy Roddick, they figured, so how hard could it be?

Following a climb up the learning curve, the brothers found that tennis translated nicely from joystick to racket. The game has helped the Pakistan-born brothers, now the No. 1 and 2 singles players for Deer Valley High, stay focused through a transfer and the sickness of their father, acclimate to life in the United States and visualize a brighter future.

“They really have improved a tremendous amount this year,” Wolverines head coach Brian Richardson said. “They both had a lot of raw talent, but they just didn’t know how to put it all together. After maybe the first year and a half, you could see them start to put it all together.”

Abid, a senior, and Zahid, a junior, moved to Antioch from Pakistan in 2007 after their father, Abdullha, settled into his job as a taxi driver in Oakland. The brothers were playing for fun at Antioch’s Chichibu Park in their early days at Antioch High when head tennis coach Larry Johnson saw potential and asked them to come out for the team.

Abid, Zahid and older brother Rashed soon worked their way through the ranks, along with cousin Ikram Najib, now the Panthers’ No. 1 singles player. With senior Rashed, junior Abid and sophomore Zahid on last year’s roster, Antioch claimed the Bay Valley Athletic League title.

But about a year and a half ago, Abdullha started to feel sick. While he was taking medication for arthritis, his condition worsened and his energy took a dive. Abid and Zahid’s older brother, Hamid, said their father started getting bad headaches and needed long periods of rest. Abdullha hasn’t told his 10 children the specifics of what’s going on, not wanting to distract them from their studies, work and athletic pursuits.

He’s a proud dad, but the sickness (and his own nerves) have prevented him from seeing his kids play tennis for a while. Abdullha is happy that tennis has given Abid and Zahid a future: next year, Abid will attend American River College, which boasts a stellar tennis program, and plans to transfer to a four-year school. Zahid is also looking forward to playing tennis in college.

“I’m happy,” Abdullha said. “All of my kids are good. They speak to me, I love them, they love me.”

In order to accompany the large family and to be closer to Abdullha in the hospital, the Ahmads moved from Antioch High’s part of town to a bigger house in Deer Valley’s zone. Understanding the situation with Abdullha, Johnson didn’t have a problem with the move, although the Ahmads were required to prove hardship to North Coast Section officials in order to transfer to Deer Valley without a year of ineligibility.

Abid was looking forward to a strong senior season at Antioch, where he was among family. “I was kind of disappointed because it was my senior year,” he said. “I wanted to finish at the same school.”

The transfer allowed Abid and Zahid to come under the tutelage of Richardson, whose summer camp the brothers had attended for the past three years. The familiarity with Richardson’s style helped the transition. Out of the top spot on the Wolverines’ ladder, Abid finished the season 9-1 in Bay Valley Athletic League play. Zahid ended the year 10-0.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with them,” Richardson said.

The brothers were a prominent part of Tuesday’s league tournament. Richardson moved Zahid to the doubles bracket, pairing him with sophomore Cameron Yee. The team lost to the Heritage pair of Matt De La Madrid and Colin Friedel in the semifinals.

Abid, who stayed in the singles tournament, was matched against another fierce competitor in Freedom’s Jeff Matteri for the finals. Abid emerged victorious in the emotional match, 6-1, 6-4.

His motivation to clinch the title? Abdullha, who smiled later that day as he handled his boy’s gold medal.

“Everybody became happy,” Abdullha said. “It’s good news.”