Kronemann Saves His Best for Last at Ojai : Tennis: Anteaters’ top singles player rallies to lead school to fourth consecutive Big West title.

Lately, the Big West Conference championships hadn’t been this nerve-wracking for the UC Irvine men’s tennis team.

But there the UCI players were, huddled in the bleachers at Libbey Park, watching a two-point lead over Fresno State slip away.

On Court No. 2, Trevor Kronemann, Irvine’s No. 1 singles player, was losing his grip on a 5-2 lead in the third set of his championship match against Mike Chinchiolo of San Jose State.

“Over in the stands there were 12 guys chewing their fingernails,” Irvine Coach Greg Patton said later. “We were the Fingernaileaters, not the Anteaters.”

Chinchiolo rallied, was ahead, 6-5, and was serving for the match, but Kronemann came up with one brilliant return after another to force a tiebreaker.

Kronemann won that, 7-2, and took the match, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.

Irvine went on to win the Big West team title, its fourth consecutive and seventh in the last eight years.

The Anteaters outscored Fresno, 51-45. Cal State Long Beach was third with 29 points and Nevada Las Vegas was fourth with 25.

“That match had more drama than (the movie) ‘Die Hard,’ ” Patton said. “All I could think of was Bruce Willis saving all those people in ‘Die Hard.’ (Kronemann) saved us.”

Kronemann came through with an emotional performance against Chinchiolo.

“I knew how important it was to the team’s chances,” Kronemann said. “He left a little crack in the door. He didn’t shut it all the way and I knocked it down.”

Coming into the match, the two seemed opposites in every sense.

Kronemann is a heavy hitter, who uses all of his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame to belt the ball around the court. Chinchiolo, a 5-10 left-hander, relies on finesse and speed.

Kronemann had never lost a singles match at Ojai. Chinchiolo was playing in his first Big West tournament, having transferred from Georgia Tech.

The players split the first two sets, Kronemann overpowering Chinchiolo in the first set and Chinchiolo taking the second.

Kronemann broke Chinchiolo’s serve for a 3-0 lead in the third set and led, 5-2, when Chinchiolo made his comeback.

“He played great at 5-2,” Kronemann said. “He chipped and came in. He was all over the net.”

But Chinchiolo had no answer for Kronemann’s monstrous returns of serve and the set went to a tiebreaker.

Kronemann gained a 4-2 lead then took some advice from teammate Mike Saunders.

“He told me to flip the bill of my cap up like a rally cap,” Kronemann said. “I flipped it up and there you go three straight points.”

Irvine finally clinched the title when Carsten Hoffmann and Mike Roberts won at No. 2 doubles.

They trailed Nils Koitka and Mike Noel of Fresno, 5-2, in the third set, but rallied for a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 victory.

Also winning Big West title for Irvine were Richard Lubner, who defeated Greg Andersen of Fresno, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 singles; Saunders, who beat Nader Fararji of Long Beach, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 6 singles, and Shige Kanroji and Neel Grover, who defeated Mike Boice and G.K. Fleming of UC Santa Barbara, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6.

Tennis Notes

Trevor Kronemann of Irvine was named the Big West player of the year. Brad Stine of Fresno State was named coach of the year. Kronemann won six conference titles in four seasons--three at No. 2 singles, one at No. 1 singles and two at No. 1 doubles.

The men’s open singles final featured two hometown heroes who attended Ojai high schools. Steve Aniston, a former Nordhoff High School and UC Irvine standout, defeated Sean Brawley, who played at Villanova Prep and USC. Aniston, 26, won 6-2, 7-5. He and Brawley, 29, used to practice together when they were juniors players. “Six years ago, I had a lot of problems,” Aniston said. “I had a career-ending injury. I had foot surgery. I’ve overcome a lot. It feels great to be able to run around out there.”

John Swaino of Cypress College lost to John Fox of Santa Barbara, 7-6, 6-4, in the community college men’s singles final. Gina Garcia of Orange Coast College lost to Jennifer Johnston of Chabot, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, in the community college women’s singles final.