TENNIS : Sunset Hills Club Boasts a Strong Senior Class

The sun has yet to set on the playing careers of senior tennis players at the Sunset Hills Country Club.

For example, men’s and women’s teams from the club made their second consecutive strong showing in the Phoenix Challenge/Love-50 championships, held in Las Vegas in the spring. The doubles tournament is designed for players age 50 and older who have a ranking no higher than a 4.5.

(The National Tennis Rating Program classifies players’ skills on a scale from 1.0 to 7.0. Touring professionals are among those rated at 7.0.)

Sunset Hills represented the six-team Conejo Valley League in the tournament, and was one of 21 teams--representing 20 regions of the country--vying for a national title. Each team fields three doubles pairs for each division (i.e., six Sunset Hills women competed in the women’s 4.0 division).

Both the Sunset Hills men’s 4.0 and 4.5 teams won their division championships; the women’s 4.5 team advanced to the final and the 4.0 team lost in the semifinals.

Last year, the 4.0 and 4.5 divisions were combined and the Sunset Hills men won the championship.

“We just don’t want to give up the ghost,” said Orlando Suero, the men’s 4.5 captain until he moved recently from Thousand Oaks to Palm Desert.

Suero, 65, who is on the Phoenix Challenge board of directors, said seniors tend to fall by the wayside in tournaments designed for younger players.

“When this league came along, (seniors) got very enthusiastic about it because now we’re playing people our age,” he said. “That’s the trouble with the Volvo tournament. A guy 58 years old might win the first set, but he’s not going to win the match because those younger guys are going to run you into the ground.”

Never say die: Suero might have resigned as captain of the Sunset Hills team, but he hasn’t given up the sport.

“I haven’t hung tennis up,” he said. “I play every morning whether it’s 110 degrees or 85. I haven’t given up tennis at all.”

As a member of the Phoenix Challenge board, Suero is trying to bring the 1991 championships to Palm Springs. Naples, Fla., is another possible site.

Local Phoenix Challenge leagues begin in September at various clubs in the area.

Honor roll: Larry Pearl of Tarzana has the type of resume that might make some feel slightly insecure.

Bound for Baylor College of Medicine in August, Pearl was named an academic All-American tennis player at Rice University. As a four-year member of the Rice team, Pearl played No. 1 singles and doubles, won two MVP awards, and was selected to the All-Southwest Conference team.

Pearl graduated in 1986 from Taft High where he was named a scholar-athlete.

Giant steps: Cal State Northridge will be competing at the Division I level in tennis next season, a daunting task for the school’s women’s team.

Although they finished with a winning record last season, the Division II Lady Matadors (14-13) were 3-6 against Division I teams. CSUN defeated Cal State Long Beach twice and Wichita State.

All-American Cathy Teobaldi, the top Northridge singles player, finished eighth among Division II players in the final national rankings. She said playing at a higher level will be taxing over the long haul.

“It’s definitely a huge step up, but if our whole team works hard, we can hang in there,” said Teobaldi, who teaches at the Westlake Village Racquet Club. “It’s just a matter of competing at that level on a consistent basis.”

Teobaldi should know--before transferring to Northridge her sophomore year, she played No. 3 and 4 singles at Long Beach.

Coach Tony Davila sees a bright future for Northridge, providing the Lady Matadors can weather a few lean years.

“The bottom line is that we are going to have to be able to recruit people from out of the area,” Davila said. “It’s going to take a while. I think it’s a challenge. We have an opportunity to get into the top 20 but it’s going to be a step-by-step process.”