Susan Huberman

School: Los Alamitos High

Sport: Tennis

Position: No. 1 singles

Class: Senior

Last season, Huberman lost to teammate Valerie Palmero in the final of the Empire League individual championships. Tuesday, Huberman beat teammate Laura Westphal, 6-0, 6-1, to win the league championship--and then she got to work on helping the top-seeded Griffins defend their Southern Section title. Thursday, Huberman didn’t lose a game in Los Alamitos’ 17-1 victory over Long Beach Poly in the first round of the Division III playoffs. Saturday, she swept, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1, in a 16-2 victory over Hart in the second round. In her third year on the varsity, Huberman is 64-4 this season, losing only to Mater Dei’s Erika Asmuss, Sunny Hills’ Karin Galvin and two players from Tahoe Placer High. “She’s very determined,” Los Alamitos Coach Debbie Fleming said. “She’s very much a team player. She likes to get her match over with quickly so she can go cheer for her teammates.”

Other top performers:

Kristina Grigaitis and Lauren Weaver, who swept their doubles sets as Estancia defeated Torrance, 10-8, and Villa Park, 11-7, in the first two rounds of the Division II tennis playoffs.

Deana Itow, who had 18 kills in each of two Huntington Beach Division I volleyball playoff victories. Itow led the Oilers to a four-game victory over Foothill and a five-game victory over La Habra.

Kim Nelson, who won her Division II-AA heat at the Southern Section cross-country preliminaries, finishing the hilly, three-mile Mt. San Antonio College course in 18 minutes 48 seconds. It was the best time for an Orange County girl during the day and helped Canyon advance to the finals this Saturday.

Jaime Wehrhan, who had 26 kills as Marina upset second-seeded Long Beach Poly in five games in the first round of the Division I volleyball playoffs.