HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS CITY SECTION INDIVIDUAL FINALS : Taft’s Weiss Rebuffed by Chatsworth’s Huerta

Rafael Huerta became the first Chatsworth High athlete to win a City Section tennis championship when he defeated Taft’s Jason Weiss, 7-5, 6-2, in the boys’ individual final Friday at The Racquet Centre of Universal City.

Huerta had cruised through the first four rounds of the tournament--losing only two games--but he struggled early against Weiss. The Taft freshman won the first game and scored the first two points of the second. But Huerta rallied to win the game and opened a 5-3 lead in the set before Weiss tied it, 5-5. Huerta then won the next two games and cruised through the second set, winning the last four games.

“I felt confident, but at the beginning I couldn’t concentrate,” Huerta said. “I think (Weiss’ performance) went down in the second set. He didn’t seem tired or frustrated. I just think he has three more years to do this and I don’t. I have a lot of pressure on me because he’s a freshman and I’m a junior.”

Weiss, who upset top-seeded Casey Wood of Granada Hills in Wednesday’s semifinals, said he was tired--mentally.

“I wasn’t physically tired, but mentally I was,” he said. “As the match went on, my mental game went down.”

Huerta learned Thursday that no freshman had won the individual title. He remembered that Friday.

“I didn’t want something like that happening against me,” he said.

The match ended fittingly with Huerta at the net and Weiss at the baseline. Huerta had altered his playing style during the season, spending more time at the net. Weiss noted afterward that Huerta was playing off-speed returns better.

“Before, he could play well if you hit hard,” Weiss said, “but he couldn’t handle looping stuff.”

Huerta (15-2) lost both of his matches during a one-week stretch when he was adopting a more offensive approach. Weiss (15-4) has relied on a strong serve-and-volley game, but he said Friday: “I was missing serves all over the place.”

In the third-place match, Wood defeated Bryan Newell of University, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. He overcame deficits of 2-5 in the first set and 4-5 in the second.

“My head was not in it,” Wood said. “I had just enough energy in the end to pull it out. Third place is only a consolation, but it’s better than fourth.”

There was another consolation for Wood. He signed a letter of intent for a partial scholarship with Cal Poly Pomona on Friday. “They have an excellent program and were willing to accommodate me financially,” he said. “That’s what I was looking for.”

In the third-place doubles match, Marshall’s Diego Raggio and Sebastian Albelias defeated Taft’s David Sobel and Jason Uslander, 6-4, 6-4.