SOUTHERN SECTION 2-A GIRLS’ TENNIS : Diamond Bar Rolls On, Beating Katella in Final

The Katella High School girls’ tennis team ran out of upsets Tuesday, losing to top-seeded Diamond Bar in the Southern Section 2-A final, 14-4.

Katella had defeated second seeded St. Lucy’s and third seeded Louisville during the playoffs. But then the Knights ran into Diamond Bar, which hadn’t lost a match in more than two years, had only lost nine matches in the past eight years, with five of those losses were in the playoffs.

Diamond Bar, which won Southern Section titles in 1984 and 1988, extended its consecutive victory streak to 52, having last lost in 1987 to Calabasas.

“We were feeling very fortunate to make it this far,” Katella Coach Alexandra Wampler said. “We’ve been underdogs all through the playoffs. We weren’t expected to come this far.”

“They are an excellent team, and I could tell we were extremely nervous,” she said. “We just had too many unforced errors.”

“I’d be (nervous) too, if I had to play us,” Diamond Bar Coach Jerry Davis said. “We didn’t win all those matches on luck or cheating.”

The only victories for Katella (18-5) were from No. 1 singles, senior Alisha Michaels, who won two-of-three games, and No. 2 singles, senior Lynn Vonusa.

“We needed to pick up some in doubles,” Wampler said. But instead, it was the Knights’ glaring weakness. Diamond Bar won all nine double matches.