Orange County Community College Notebook / Steve Kresal : Saddleback Has a Pretty Good Racket Going

Pick a conference, any conference, and the Saddleback College men’s tennis team most likely will win it.

Since 1979, Saddleback has won eight consecutive championships in three conferences.

Saddleback won the Mission Conference from 1979 to 1982, the Pacific Coast Conference in 1983 and 1984 and the South Coast Conference in 1985 and 1986.

Under Bill Otta, who has been the coach since the start of the program in 1975, Saddleback also has won five Southern California championships--first in 1980 and then from 1982 to 1985. Saddleback is 152-16 in dual meets since 1979 and 202-52 in its history. The Gauchos also won the state title in 1984.

This season, Saddleback has moved to the Orange Empire Conference.With the switch, Saddleback--ranked fourth in the state--joins the other Orange County power, Orange Coast, which is ranked ninth.

The teams will meet in the first of two conference matches today at 2 p.m. at Saddleback.

Saddleback, led by returning sophomores Grant Hein and Mike Boice, is 3-0 in the conference and 8-1 overall. The loss was to Cal State Fullerton, 5-4.

Boice is the 22nd-ranked singles player in the state, Hein is 34th and teammate Mark Oryskevich 44th. Boice and Hein are ranked No. 4 in doubles and Oryskevich and Mike Brown No. 15.

OCC (3-0, 9-0) is led by 17th-ranked Chris Ganz and 30th-ranked John Gabriel in singles. Ganz and Gabriel are ranked seventh in doubles.

Time change: The South Coast Conference will play its football games at 6 p.m. next season instead of 7:30 p.m.

“We’re just trying to do something to create a little more interest in community college football,” said Hal Sherbeck, Fullerton coach. “We’re trying to generate a spot for community college football in people’s interest, and this might help do it.”

The South Coast Conference is made up of Fullerton, Golden West, El Camino, Cerritos, Compton, Pasadena City, Mt. San Antonio and Long Beach City.

The Mission Conference, in which the other three Orange County teams--Saddleback, Orange Coast and Rancho Santiago--play, will continue to start games at 7:30 p.m. Riverside, Grossmont, San Diego City, San Diego Mesa and Southwestern make up the rest of the conference.

Coaches have been discussing another shuffle of football conferences, consolidating all the Southern California teams into three large conferences.

Any move--which probably would group Orange County teams into the same conference--could not take place until the 1988 season.

Community College Notes

Saddleback’s Vincent Smalls and Tom Desiano and Rancho Santiago’s Simon Thomas were voted to the all-state tournament basketball team. Ventura defeated Saddleback, 76-72, in Saturday’s tournament final at Loyola Marymount before an estimated 3,500 spectators. It was the largest crowd to attend the final since 1979, when 6,500 watched Orange Coast defeat Saddleback, 75-67, in overtime at Cal State Fullerton. . . . Best post-tournament quote belongs to Dana Pagett, Rancho Santiago coach. He led the Dons, whose first eight players were sophomores, to the winningest season (29-5) in the school’s history. Pagett said, “It’s time to start recruiting. I have to get a whole new team.” . . . Chris Jackson and Smalls of Rancho Santiago have been selected to the all-state team, and Cypress’ Andy Olivarez received honorable mention. Olivarez averaged 19.6 points a game and is second on Cypress’ single-season all-time scoring list with 647 points. Ron Davis (1978-79) is first with 664 points. . . . Vanessa Johnson of Riverside was voted the most valuable player by the Orange Empire Conference women’s basketball coaches. Karen Caires, Stacy Yakota and Pam Fritsch of Cypress, Demerial Gibson (Rancho Santiago), Dina Graham (Saddleback) and Lisa Schumaker (Orange Coast) were named to the first team. Holly Wood (Rancho Santiago) and Karen Rindone (OCC) were voted honorable mention. . . . Five more members of the Saddleback football team signed letters of intent. Running back Quincy Frank (Western Washington State), linebackers Pat Quigley (Cal State Long Beach) and Scott Sanders (Geneva College), tight end John Duff (New Mexico) and offensive lineman Matt Atwood (Northern Arizona) received scholarships to play next season.