SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION I TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Dana Hills Can’t Stop Santa Barbara

Dana Hills Coach John Stephens thought he gave his team a pretty good speech before Wednesday’s Southern Section Division I boys’ tennis final against six-time champion Santa Barbara.

“I told them to relax and enjoy being an underdog,” Stephens said. “There’s no pressure on you.”

Unfortunately, only freshman Brandon Fallon seemed to be listening. Fallon played loose, and his teammates played tight. The result was scary: Santa Barbara 17 2/3, Dana Hills 3 1/3.

Though he lost his last two sets, 6-4, 6-2, Fallon was the only Dolphin to win a first-round set.

“I wasn’t intimidated because I play (junior) tournaments,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I should be nervous. It’s just another match. I knew all the pressure was on them.”

But the pressure got to Fallon’s teammates early. David Bailey and Christian Spaulding had been the Dolphins’ top doubles team all season, but they were soundly beaten by Santa Barbara’s Bryan Corlett and Dave Armstrong, 6-1, in the first round. Bailey’s serve was broken twice as he had three double faults in his first service game and two in his second.

“We all came out intimidated,” Bailey said. “They have a tradition going here, and it’s tough to beat it.”

Spaulding attempted to beat it by yelling his way to victory. But his shouts of “Yeah, that’s huge,” drew a code violation from the referee and seemed to only inspire the Santa Barbara players.

“They tried to come here with an attitude and they expected us to break down, but that’s what makes our team so tough--our mental toughness,” Santa Barbara’s Ian Carrera said.

Santa Barbara’s talent isn’t bad either. The Dons didn’t have a weak player in their lineup. In Nathan Jackmon and Jimmy Walker, they had two of the better players in Southern California. Add talent, mental toughness and a home crowd of almost 200 at Knowlwood Tennis Club, and the final score was fairly predictable.

“Playing at home would have helped, but the way we played (Wednesday), it wouldn’t have mattered where we played,” Stephens said. “I thought our doubles would play a lot better. They’ve been our strength all year.”

But Dana Hills only got victories from Fallon and Erik Lundblad in singles and Mike Baxi and Hanley Ernst in doubles. The Dolphins finished 23-1 and lost to Santa Barbara in the final for the second time in four years. The Dons (25-0) have won seven consecutive Division I titles and nine of the last 10.

“This is almost like playing the (Palos Verdes) Peninsula girls,” Stephens said. “Everybody’s playing to get to the other side of the draw so they can get to the finals. You love getting here. But going into the finals, knowing the odds of winning are not good, is tough.”

So tough that Carrera even empathized with the other Division I teams.

“Some guy said to me (Wednesday), ‘What are you guys doing, buying your players?,’ ” Carrera said. “I told him that it’s just a good tennis community. What are we supposed to do, not accept the players that come in here?”

Stephens, and every other Division I tennis coach, probably wouldn’t have too much trouble answering, “Yes,” to that question.