TENNIS : Pospich Aims for Fun in the Games

Natasha Pospich has been the No. 1 player at Calabasas High for three years and will be again this fall. But as she prepares for her final season at Calabasas, she is setting higher goals.

High on her list is to play someday in the Olympics. Taking part in the U. S. Olympic Festival last week in Minneapolis only increased her desire to be an Olympian.

“I’m not sure how many people were at the Metrodome for the opening ceremonies, but it was amazing to walk out and see the crowd,” Pospich said. “I competed for the East team, and we were the first team to walk out. When we entered the stadium, the crowd just went crazy.”

Pospich enjoyed the Festival activities, observing that the event “wasn’t like just going to compete at a tennis tournament. We got to see other things, it wasn’t just tennis day in and day out.”

Unfortunately, playing in the tournament was not as much fun as watching it for Pospich, a Woodland Hills resident. She lost in the second round of the singles tournament to the North’s Christine Neuman, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Pospich and doubles partner Kristen Osmand lost in the first round; in mixed doubles, Pospich and Chris Pressley were eliminated in the second round.

Yet the trip was hardly a total loss. Pospich was able to make new friends and visit with acquaintances she had met at other tournaments.

It was Pospich’s first tournament since she defaulted from the Southern California Sectionals this summer--for top juniors living in areas from San Diego to Santa Barbara--in the semifinals because of a bad back. Her back did not bother her during the Festival, however, and she did not let the defeats interrupt her working vacation.

“I went there not really feeling like I was playing in a tournament,” Pospich said. “I went there for the honor of being invited. I was serious during sectionals and I really needed a break.”

Pospich’s summer vacation only now is beginning, but soon she will begin to ready herself for her final high school season and the hunt for a college. She hopes to play at a West Coast school and is considering Pepperdine among others.

Ageless wonders: Sixteen-year-old Vanig Kassabian and 39-year-old Rick Rozen might not be quite up to competing with Stefan Edberg yet, but no one can blame them for trying.

Kassabian of Sherman Oaks and Rozen of Woodland Hills were two of four players from the Valley who advanced to the main draw of the pre-qualifying tournament for the Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles Open, in which Wimbledon champion Edberg is scheduled to compete. The tournament will determine the two qualifiers for the qualifying tournament for the Grand Prix event at UCLA on July 28-29.

Sixteen berths in the pre-qualifying tournament are held for seeded players, but the other 16 are up for grabs. Kassabian, Rozen, Cal State Northridge student Pierre Mareschal and Desi McBride of Arleta took four of those berths.

Yet the main draw of the pre-qualifying event was as far as they would get. Kassabian lost in the first round of the main draw to Mike Brown of Ramona, 6-3, 7-6. Rozen lost to Mitch Bridge of Huntington Beach, 6-3, 6-3.

Rozen had played in a Grand Prix tournament before in Tulsa, Okla., and had played in qualifying events for many Grand Prix events and the U. S. Open. He knows that there are players who emerge from these competitions.

“There is always a fantasy,” Rozen said. “It’s a little out of my age group, but I felt I was playing pretty well. As long as you feel healthy, there is always a chance. Why do people buy lottery tickets? I felt I had a better chance of winning this than I did the lottery.”

Rozen downplayed the age factor. He had no doubts about his ability to match up with other players in the pre-qualifying tournament.

“I felt like I competed well,” Rozen said. “I feel like I play tennis now better then ever before. I don’t feel senior in any way except experience and attitude. I go out there and I have to perform. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you still have to get to the ball.”

Mareschal, a native of France, lost to Steve Aniston of Corona, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6. This might have been Mareschal’s last competitive effort in the United States, but he was not overly sentimental about his defeat.

“I played this tournament to see what I could do,” Mareschal said. “I am returning to France and I would like to play in some tournaments there; this was just to see what I could do. It was just for fun. I was not prepared for this, this was not fun.”

McBride lost in the first round to Anthony Smith of Los Angeles, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

The lack of success for Valley players even affected the Valley’s only seeded player, second-seeded Steve Wiere, who lost to Frank Ofori of Riverside, 6-7, 6-1, 6-3.