Boys’ Tennis Preview: Expectations grow higher for St. Francis
Though the St. Francis High tennis team didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season following a four-year postseason run, there proved to be plenty of buzz surrounding the Golden Knights.
Jack and Ian Freer embarked on an amazing campaign that saw the brothers make deep runs in doubles at the Ojai Invitational, Mission League Tournament and CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament.
The Freers advanced to the semifinals at Ojai, the finals in league and the semifinals at CIF en route to being named the All-Area Boys’ Doubles Team of the Year.
Jack Freer graduated, yet Ian Freer will return in full force looking to get St. Francis back in the playoff equation.
“They had such a great run last year and I think it really lifted the program going forward,” St. Francis coach Ron Zambrano said. “We know we can count on Ian and he’s been playing some great tennis of late at tournaments each week.
“There’s excitement around the team right now. We have some freshmen on board and we have returners who have experience. It should be a good mix of talent and depth.”
St. Francis took fifth in league last season and will look to challenge for a playoff berth while competing against traditional powers Harvard-Westlake, Loyola and Chaminade.
Freer, a junior, will be the Golden Knights’ No. 1 singles player. He went 24-6 in singles and 13-3 in doubles last season. The Golden Knights will bring back senior Shahan Derbedrosian, who will play singles and doubles.
“We’re looking good,” said Zambrano, whose team will remain in Division III after realignment. “There’s a lot of potential. Our doubles teams will be good and we know our league will be very tough again.”
Roger Hollomand assumes the coaching responsibilities from Morisa Yang at Flintridge Prep. Yang was selected All-Area Boys’ Tennis Coach of the Year after she guided the Rebels to a second-place finish in the Prep League, along with winning a wild-card match in Division III last season.
Flintridge Prep, which has made the playoffs two straight seasons, will bring back sophomore Derek Tran, who was named the All-Area Singles Player of the Year after finishing 33-9.
Joining Tran will be junior Gillis Linde and senior Ryan Lee in singles and senior Bobby Hansen in doubles. Linde was an All-Area honoree in doubles last season after teaming with Christian Yeghnazar to go 38-4.
“We’ve had some early practices and things are going good,” Hollomand said. “We have a strong top three and some others who are just beginning.
“We’ll shoot for a top-two finish in league and get back to CIF.”
Flintridge Prep will be in Division IV this season.
Crescenta Valley was the other local team to qualify for the playoffs last season, reaching the first round in Division II under coach Sam Hyun.
The Falcons finished second in the Pacific League behind Arcadia and will bring back several players. Expected back is All-Area junior singles player Kevin Rowe, who went 32-12 and advanced to the semifinals in the league tournament.
Crescenta Valley, which will stay in Division II, will also have sophomore Eric Babayan in singles and seniors Darren Kim and Terry Shin and juniors Maclean Lunt and Justin Kim in doubles.
“A lot of our players are battling neck-and-neck with each other,” Hyun said. “It’s good to have that kind of competition leading up to the season.
“We’ll try to play consistently like a Division II team and we’ll battle it out with Arcadia, Burroughs and Burbank in league.”
Cross-town rivals Glendale and Hoover didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season after finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Pacific League. The Nitros and Tornadoes will look to turn things around with new coaches.
Glendale brought in Connor Fulgham, a former player at Crespi, to succeed Grace Sheldon-Williams. Hoover will turn to Debra Lisseback, who takes over for Yeprem Chavdarian.
Glendale, which will be in Division IV after competing in Division III last season, will look to make some waves under Fulgham. The pieces appear to be in place to make a smooth transition, as Glendale will return its top doubles team of seniors Pranav Law and Zain Tokatly, junior Richard Mirzoian in singles and freshman Marko Ratkovic in singles.
“We have a lot of good talent and we’re pretty balanced,” Fulgham said. “It’s a group that can do well.
“We just want to build the program and make it a good learning experience for our players.”
Hoover will remain in Division IV while looking to escape the basement in league.
Though it might be a rebuilding season of sorts for Hoover, Lissebeck said she’s encouraged about player development.
“We lost 11 seniors from last season,” Lissebeck said. “At the same time, we’ve picked up some new players.
“It’s a mixed bag in terms of some players having experience and others being inexperienced. We’ll mostly be looking for individual growth.”
The Tornadoes will feature sophomore David Mkrtchyan, who can play singles and doubles, and freshmen singles players Kevin Nazarian, Hrant Narinjyan and Vahe Halebeian.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
