By Alan der OHANNESSIAN

The CVHS Falcons tennis team beat Burbank on March 29 by nine games to extend their winning streak.

The series ended with both teams tied at nine. Having won more games throughout the series (79-70) earned CV a hard fought victory.

Coming into the series, the Falcons were brimming with confidence. They had won three of their last four matches having beat South Pasadena (14-4), Hoover (10-8) and La Salle (17-1) with their only loss coming against Arcadia (6-12).

“I thought they were on the upswing,” said head coach Sarah Wiggins of her team’s success.

Though the Falcons fought hard in the singles department, it wasn’t enough and they lost 4-5.

“[Burbank] was hungrier,” said Wiggins. “They had a goal (CIF) and they’re going to make us work for it.”

She switched Albert Chtchyan, the No. 1 seed, to the second slot. He was replaced by Aren Abrahamian, the usual No. 2 player. Abrahamian put in a good performance, winning two of his three matches. He beat Bulldog No. 2 player James Hong 6-2.

Abrahamian continued with his positive performance, beating Minas Badikyan, their No. 3 player, 6-1. However he was outmatched by Clayton Pauff, the Bulldogs’ No. 1 player, losing 6-0.

Falcon Chtchyan, who typically leads the charge in singles, didn’t fare as well as Abrahamian, winning just one his three matches. His lone win came against Badikyan, beating him 6-0. Chtchyan also put up a strong fight against Hong before having his serve broken and losing 5-7. Against Pauff he lost 2-6.

Unfortunately, Doil Kim had the worst outcome among his peers in his column. He only won two games in his two matches, losing to Pauff and Hong 6-0 and 6-2 respectively. He found solace in defeating Badkyan, the player to whom he lost his previous two matches, beating him 6-1.

Despite the doubles having always been their comfort zone, the Falcons had to fight for their victory 5-4.

The duo of James Ho/Greg Manoucheri, the No. 1 team, didn’t live up to its expectation. They lost two of their three matches to the No. 1 and No. 2 teams of Keon Woo Park/Johnathan Lee and Tajh Bellow/Alex Lee, 6-4 and 6-3. They did dominate their final match, beating Eric Shahnazarian/Jason Olah, 6-1.

The second team of Tim Chong/Patrick Meserkhani had the best performance of the day.

“Tim and Patrick have good communication,” said Wiggins.

They managed to win all three of their matches fighting hard and eventually prevailing 7-5 over Burbank’s No. 1, Park/Lee.

The duo broke their opponents’ serves three times in each match, beating Bellow/Lee and Shahnazarian/Olah by the same score, 6-2, for a 3-0 record.

The final doubles team, Daniel Cha/Justin Chung, had a similar fate as their teammates in the first slot managing to get only a single win coming at the expense of Shahnazarian/Olah, 6-0. They fought hard against Burbank’s No. 1 of Park/Lee but eventually succumbed, 5-7, then lost to Bellow/Lee, 6-3.

With each team having won a column by the same score (5-4), the Falcons prevailed as they had won more games, giving them the victory over a tough team.

Wiggins said that overall she felt the key to the Falcons’ winning streak had been having her full team and continued good communication among the players.

The Falcons travel to Burbank on Tuesday to face the Bulldogs again at 3:30 p.m.