Coach Haunted by Rojany’s Death in Flight 800 Crash

Coach Rick Prizant has no trouble accepting losses on the court, even if the City Section championship is at stake.

But the death of Yon Rojany, one of his former players at Birmingham High, has left Prizant searching for perspective since he learned Rojany was aboard TWA Flight 800.

In what some fear to have been a terrorist bombing, 230 people died in the July 17 crash over the Atlantic Ocean near Long Island. There were no survivors.

Rojany was headed to Italy to try out for teams in the Italian professional league.

“I was just sick about it,” Prizant said. “I basically haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since it happened. Everybody feels horrible.”

Rojany, 19, graduated from Birmingham in 1995 and but frequently returned to Birmingham to play pickup basketball games with Prizant and several other former players.

In 1995, Rojany and doubles partner Kris Kenney helped the Braves reach the City 3-A team championship match. Birmingham lost to Eagle Rock in the final, with Rojany and Kenney getting swept in three sets.

But the two had won all three sets in the semifinal against San Pedro.

Prizant said Rojany, who played No. 3 doubles, was one of the team’s free spirits, not as dedicated to the sport as some of his teammates but a good competitor.

“He was a character, but he always wanted to win,” Prizant said. “He wasn’t the greatest player, but he had a desire to win that always kept him in there.

“He was a pleasure to be around. I’m just glad I knew Yon.”

Prizant said Birmingham probably will dedicate one of its courts this fall in memory of Rojany.

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Was it really all fun and games when twins Mike and Bob Bryan of Camarillo recently beat 1993 French Open champions Luke and Murphy Jensen in a doubles exhibition? Perhaps.

As the U.S. Junior National team members and nine-time national junior doubles champions posted a 6-4, 6-3 victory, there were friendly barbs exchanged and numerous interruptions.

The Bryans gained a wild-card entry into next week’s Infiniti Open at the L.A. Tennis Center at UCLA. And that’s no joke.

The Bryans have twice beaten the Jensens, America’s most popular if not most marketed doubles team. In two other pro tournaments this year, the twins dispatched Joost Winnick and Dirk Dier in Florida and Kenny Thorne and Brian Joelson in Amarillo, Texas.

“Counting their exhibitions, they’ve beaten four teams that are in the top 100 in the pros right now,” said Wayne Bryan, the twins’ father and coach. “They actually hope they draw the Jensens [at the Infiniti]. They really love the Jensens as friends, and nobody does more for tennis.”

The Bryans find out Sunday who they play.

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The Bryan twins will take part in two public exhibitions as part of the Infiniti tournament. At 10 a.m. Sunday, Mike and Bob are scheduled to spar with Jonas Bjorkman and Stefan Edberg at a clinic.

“But you never really know until those guys show up,” Wayne Bryan said.

The Bryans also will be featured Wednesday in a carnival-type clinic for children that also includes Assn. of Tennis Professionals members. The first 3,000 children at the 9:30 a.m. event will get free admission to the clinic and some morning and afternoon Infiniti matches.

Both events are at the L.A. Tennis Center.

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While most of the area’s college-bound juniors were competing in the national clay-court championships this week, Matt Snowdon of Calabasas fought his way into the Infiniti pre-qualifier main draw.

He got an early test of top collegiate competition.

Snowdon, bound for Kansas on scholarship, suffered a 6-3, 6-4, first-round loss to Mark Ellis of Cal Lutheran, the 1996 NCAA Division III singles champion.

Snowdon found he was no match for Ellis, a 6-foot-6 left-hander with a serve-and-volley game.

“He served through me,” said Snowdon, who was undefeated at Calabasas High last spring. “I had four solid returns the whole match. He’s so tall, he covers the whole net.”

But Snowdon, one of only three juniors to advance to the main draw, got just what he was looking for--tough competition.

“There’s not a lot of tournaments like this,” he said. “Mark and I are going to get set up to practice some. We talked about that after the match.”