San Diego Section Tennis : La Jolla, Bonita Vista Emerge With Titles : Both Teams Are Helped by Players Who Don’t Usually Play

La Jolla continued its dominance of high school girls’ tennis Saturday in the San Diego Section championships at San Pasqual High School, and another team gave notice that it may be the one to beat for quite some time.

La Jolla, winner of eight section championships in nine years, retained its 2-A title by beating Bishop’s, 4-3, and Bonita Vista beat Poway, 5-2, for the 3-A championship with a team composed mostly of freshmen and sophomores.

The winners were helped by players who had appeared infrequently during the regular season because of tournament schedules. Such was the case of Cammie Foley and Veena Prabhakar, who missed all but four of Bonita Vista’s 15 matches before the playoffs.

Foley, the No. 1 singles player, beat Poway’s Dominique Rosano, 6-1, 6-0, and No. 2 Prabhakar defeated Stacy Harris, 6-2, 6-0. Kelly Dennison and Lisa Takashima also won in straight sets for Bonita Vista. Takashima is 18-0 for the season.

“As a first-year coach, I probably shouldn’t be blessed with this,” Bonita Vista’s Gil Hartson said. “It’s hard to imagine a team being better than this year’s team. Every coach dreams of a team like this.”

Poway’s only points came on victories from its No. 2 doubles team of Laura Newmark and Deena Mueler and No. 3 Jennifer Lukenbill and Karin Morrison.

“I don’t think anybody figured that they weren’t going to take it,” Poway Coach Evi Yarnell said. “I’m very pleased with my team. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year and we made it to the finals.”

The 2-A championship was not decided until the last game. After Shannon Crockett of Bishop’s had cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory in the No. 1 singles’ match, La Jolla took the remaining singles victories as Daphna Serror, Laurie Schmitt and Hana Ohkawa won.

Bishop’s tied the match, 3-3, with victories by its No. 1 doubles team of Baranca Elsberry and Annette Zillgens and No. 2 team of Sibylle Zillgens and Keri Stenstrom. Bishop’s No. 3 doubles team of Pam Brown and Fabrina Harper then won the first game of the third match, 6-2.

But La Jolla’s Jo Serror and J.J. Newberry rallied to take the next two sets, 6-2, 6-3, as Newberry, who had been a reserve all year, sealed the title with a perfectly executed crossing shot at match point.

“J.J. was brought in just for (the playoffs),” La Jolla Coach Sue Graves said. “She was on the team all year and did not play in regular matches, so it’s great that she was the one who won it for us.”