SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 2-A TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Los Alamitos Doubles Up on Rosary, Wins Title

The basics going into the Southern Section Division 2-A girls’ tennis finals Tuesday at the Claremont Tennis Club were these: Rosary was stronger in singles and Los Alamitos in doubles.

Both sides stood their ground as expected but the Griffins stunned Rosary--and perhaps even themselves--by taking eight of nine doubles sets to defeat the Royals, 12-6, and claim the title that eluded them last season.

“They (doubles) were definitely the pressure matches for us,” Los Alamitos Coach Debbie Fleming said. “We needed to sweep the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles and the No. 3 singles, and my No. 1 doubles had to win all three. I expected my singles to only win one each.”

It practically turned out the way Fleming hoped.

Los Alamitos (23-0), the Empire League champion and the top-seeded team in the 2-A playoffs, got a clutch performance from its No. 1 singles, junior Susan Huberman. That, coupled with the dominance of its doubles teams, turned what many believed would be a close match into a rout.

The teams tied, 9-9 (68-68), in a nonleague match early in the season that was called because of darkness. But even after the first few sets Monday, it was clear Los Alamitos was on a roll.

Huberman had one of the biggest victories of the day for the Griffins with a 7-5 upset of Mandy Gomez, Rosary’s No. 2 singles and one of the top players in the county. She then clinched the match for Los Alamitos with a 6-0 victory over No. 3 singles Stephanie Coyne.

By then, though, the Los Alamitos doubles teams had all but secured the championship.

At No. 1 doubles for the Griffins, junior Erica Ladne and senior Meredith Volt cleaned up with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 victories and the No. 2 doubles team of senior Renee Bergeron and sophomore Veronica Selby swept theirs, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

Los Alamitos’ only loss in doubles came when the No. 3 team of junior Kim Grajeda and sophomore Sheri Moore dropped a 6-4 set to Rosary’s No. 1 doubles team of junior Bonnie Neri and sophomore Jennifer Chey.

“That was the difference in the match today, their superior play at doubles,” Rosary Coach Dick Fumanti said. “Our doubles were not getting their serves in and their return of serve was not as accurate as it has been.”

Rosary (16-4-1), which won the Angelus League and was seeded second in the tournament, got another exceptional outing by No. 1 singles Joyce Cruz, a junior who won her sets, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0.

Gomez, also a junior, took two of her three sets, 6-3, 6-1, to give Rosary a 5-4 edge in singles.

For the Griffins, the victory culminated a long year of waiting for another crack at the title that eluded them last season, when they lost to Sunny Hills in the 2-A finals, 12-6.

“My kids were ready,” Fleming said. “We were so pumped.”