Boys’ tennis: Irvine University coach picks Peninsula to win it all

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When Irvine University Coach John Kessler called The Times’ prep desk to report his team’s score Wednesday evening, I couldn’t resist asking which team he thought was the favorite to win the Southern Section Division I title this year. His answer was surprising, especially since the top-ranked Trojans had just demolished third-ranked Harvard-Westlake, 13-5.

No, Kessler didn’t pick his team to win it all but rather fifth-ranked Peninsula -- a squad University handled easily earlier in the season.

‘Pen will win the whole thing,’ Kessler said. ‘When we played them they were still experimenting and [No. 1 player] Tyler Bowman hadn’t been playing. He’s back in top form now and I think they’ll tweak their lineup if we face them again.’

I asked Kessler if he might be selling his team short. After all, despite a brutal schedule, University remains unbeaten in match play and is still the reigning champion. I give him credit for being honest, though. Brutally honest.

‘My guys are too cocky and I don’t think [No. 2-ranked] Santa Barbara is deep enough,’ he said. ‘I actually think a loss would do us a lot of good right now.’

University and Santa Barbara have traditionally played right before the Ojai tournament but both coaches agreed to cancel the match this year, so if the rankings remain the same the teams won’t meet until the section finals -- that is, if they make it that far.

Who is Kessler’s dark horse?

‘I’m going with Thousand Oaks,’ he said. ‘Their top two singles players, Denis Lin and Kyle McMorrow, can beat anyone except [Harvard-Westlake’s] Ryan Thacher, and their No. 3 kid [freshman Marcos Giron] makes them very dangerous.’

-- Steve Galluzzo

-- Image from http://www.cs.odu.edu