Southern Section Tennis Finals : University Ends Santa Barbara’s Streak

When it mattered most, Irvine University High School’s tennis team played like champions. And, because of it, they are champions for the first time.

Tied, 6-6, with two-time defending champion Santa Barbara after two rounds Wednesday, the Trojans didn’t fold under pressure. Instead, they took five of the six remaining sets to win the Southern Section 5-A tennis title, 11-7, at the Racquet Club of Irvine.

It was University’s first win, in its third appearance in the final. The loss was Santa Barbara’s first in three years, ending a 73-match winning streak.

University (23-1) was a slight favorite entering the match because of its depth, especially in doubles. But Santa Barbara (23-1) won five of the nine doubles sets, so the match came down to the singles.

Specifically, the difference in the match turned out to be Carsten Hoffman, who was University’s No. 1 singles player at the start of the season before losing his position to freshman Carlos Bustos. Hoffman won all three of his sets, including a key win in the third round over Santa Barbara’s top player, Bill Miller.

In other tennis finals:

Dana Hills 11, Anaheim Servite 7--The Dolphins won eight of nine doubles sets to defeat the Friars in the 4-A title match at the Laguna Niguel Racquet Club.

Stan Sanders and Neel Grover, who won the Southern Section doubles title last Saturday, were winners of three sets, as were Jeff Meredith and Andy Taylor. Dana Hills, which handed 5-A champion University its only loss, finished 22-1. Servite finished 19-4.

San Marino 12, L.A. Loyola 6--Andrew Sheppert and John Fruttero each won three singles sets to lead the unseeded Titans to the 3-A title at the Scholl Canyon Tennis Club in Glendale.

Sid Danenhauer and Hoon Park of San Marino (19-2) also won three doubles sets. Loyola, which won the 2-A title last year, finished the season 17-2-1.

Santa Maria Righetti 12, Placentia Valencia 6--Mike Gluwas did not lose a game as he won three sets to lead the Warriors to the 2-A title at the Anaheim Tennis Center.

Gluwas had 6-0 wins over Danny Yu, Mark Haskell and Sang Yim. Teammates Brent Henderson and Joel Gutierrez also won three sets to give Righetti (23-2) a sweep of the singles. No. 1-seeded Valencia finished 22-3.

North Hollywood Harvard 11, Carpinteria Cate 7--The Saracens won six of nine doubles sets to overcome Matt Semler and the Rams and win the 1-A title at the Knowlwood Tennis Club in Montecito.

Semler, who has not lost a set in team play in three years, won three singles sets. But the doubles team of Mike Regen and Andy Shirley won three sets and Harvard (15-5-1) won five of the other six singles sets to win the title. Cate (17-4) finished as 1-A runner-up for the second straight year.