NATE TABTAB was a 6-3, 6-0 winner in No. 1 singles for Benicia.

Benicia High’s boys tennis team moved into sole possession of first place in the Solano County Athletic Conference with a 6-3 victory over visiting Vanden last Thursday.

The win kept Benicia undefeated through the first third of the SCAC schedule. The Panthers (5-0) have now beaten both of the SCAC co-champions from last year – Vanden and American Canyon.

“I’ll say this – my cup runneth over,” said Benicia tennis coach Joe Perrin. “This team continually makes me proud. They work hard, they work together and they play as one, supporting one another through thick and thin.”

All three of Benicia’s doubles teams won and spelled the difference in the team match against Vanden (3-1 SCAC). Andrew Butawan and Emad Abdul-Wajid battled to a 6-3, 7-5 victory in No. 1 doubles while Brian Hung and Nick Menjibar teamed up for a 6-3, 6-4 win in No. 2 doubles. Katsuya Wako and Christian Chaves slugged out a win in No. 3 doubles by winning a third-set tiebreaker.

“It was a battle,” Perrin said. “Vanden came to play. They’re not only a great team, they had the senior edge where we are young and relatively inexperienced. I felt we didn’t play our best in some areas and yet we still managed to defeat them, with that credit going to our players.”

Nate Tabtab was a convincing 6-3, 6-0 winner in No. 1 singles. Rajan Bhatia was a 6-1, 7-5 winner in No. 2 singles while teammate Alexander Valencia captured his No. 4 singles match, 6-4, 6-0.

The Panthers play at Fairfield on Tuesday.

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