Boys’ Tennis Preview: Talented La Cañada remains in holding pattern in Division I

Count La Cañada High boys’ tennis Coach Will Moravec among those who paid close attention to the CIF Southern Section playoff realignment.

The Spartans have competed in Division I the past few seasons, but haven’t had much luck advancing beyond the first round. La Cañada lost to power Santa Monica in the first round last season, leading Moravec to sense the Spartans might be moved to another division in 2017.

It never materialized, as the Spartans will remain in Division I.

“I thought for sure we’d move down to Division II,” said Moravec, whose team took second in the Rio Hondo League last season behind San Marino. “We beat St. Francis last year and they were in Division I, but we lost to West Ranch and they were in Division II.

“We haven’t gotten out of the first round the last couple of years. So I’m a little shocked that we weren’t moved down at least one division.”

Perhaps the Spartans will be able to make some noise in league and ultimately in the postseason. It might be a good bet, as the Spartans return the core of their talented lineup.

Leading the charge in singles will be juniors Lucas Chmielewski, JP McKenzie and Reid Shreck. Chmielewski made a return trip to the All-Area team after another semifinal run in the league tournament.

The doubles lineup will be anchored by a pair of brother combinations in juniors Ian and Nicholas Lee and sophomores Phillip and William Lam.

The Lees went 19-12, 10-8 in league and advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament. They were named the All-Area Boys’ Doubles Team of the Year last season.

“I believe we have a lot of accomplished players,” Moravec said. “All of our players have improved greatly and that’s because they are taking part in tournaments and trying to find ways to get better.

“We’ll have the ability to rotate them throughout the lineup when we need to. We’ll see if they can hold their own competing in Division I. Only time will tell.”

In the previous four seasons, St. Francis has survived the gauntlet that is the Mission League and qualified for the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

It’s a streak St. Francis Coach Ron Zambrano would like to continue.

“We know we’re going to have to fight very hard in the Mission League,” said Zambrano, whose team took third last season behind Harvard-Westlake and Loyola before falling to Costa Mesa in the first round of the Division I playoffs. “Harvard-Westlake and Loyola have been very strong for a while and we’ll have to fight hard with Chaminade in all likelihood to get that third [automatic playoff] spot in league.

“It’s going to be a little more difficult than the last couple of years. We have three good singles players and one really good doubles team. We’re confident with what all of them can do and we’ll look to fill out he remaining spots in the lineup to give us a chance to win.”

The Golden Knights will turn to senior Jack Freer and sophomore Ian Freer to stabilize the singles portion of the lineup. The brothers received All-Area recognition last season after reaching the league semifinals in doubles. They will be joined by Shahan Derbedrosian, a junior.

Derbedrosian will also compete in doubles and St. Francis will bring back senior doubles player Nick Sarkisian.

After competing in Division I the past few seasons, St. Francis will move to Division II.

Flintridge Prep was the other local team to participate in the playoffs last season. The Rebels took second in the Prep League behind Pasadena Poly and competed in the Division II playoffs for the first time since 2012. They fell to Oak Park in the first round.

Things will look considerably different for the Rebels, who saw Cartier Juan, the reigning All-Area Boys’ Singles Player of the Year, graduate.

Flintridge Prep second-year Coach Morisa Yang, who guided the school’s girls’ team to an appearance in the semifinals last fall, said the next wave of talent will look to partly offset Juan’s departure.

“Cartier was a great player and somebody his teammates looked up to,” said Yang, who was selected All-Area Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year. “It’s a chance now for the returners and newcomers to step up because are definitely hungry to get back to CIF.

“I think we will have a pretty deep lineup, especially in singles. We’ll figure out where we stand in doubles.”

The Rebels, who will be in Division III, will bring back their top doubles team in sophomore Gillis Linde and senior Christian Yeghnazar. The duo was bestowed with all-Area recognition last season after it advanced to the second round of the CIF Individual Tournament.

The top singles players figure to be junior Ryan Lee and freshman Derrick Tran.