Sisters Can Hold Court, Just Not at Same Time

Darian and Brynne Chappell are sisters No. 1 and No. 2. Darian, a senior, and Brynne, a junior, are the top two tennis players on the Camarillo High girls’ team.

They live up to their 1-2 billing on the court.

Darian was No. 1 in Southern California in doubles in the 18-and-under division last year. Brynne was No. 10 in the 16s.

But don’t expect to see these siblings on the same side in a doubles contest any time soon.

Not until they settle their philosophical differences.

“We’d argue on the court,” Brynne said. “We can’t even hit together.”

Darian takes the game seriously. So does Brynne, when she’s not hiking or gardening, working on an art project or editing the school newspaper.

Both are good students. Darian has a scholarship to UC Irvine. Brynne recently won honorable mention in a national editorial writing contest, and hopes tennis will pay for her college education.

“I know I have a lot of respect for Darian in tennis,” Brynne said. “I really don’t know what she thinks of my writing. But sometimes she asks me to read her papers. She’s a pretty good writer.”

Brynne and Bettina Rettemaier lost in the second round of the girls’ 18 doubles at Ojai. They were two victories shy of possibly meeting top-seeded Darian and Jonni Seymour in today’s championship.

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Friday was a tough day for local players in the boys’ interscholastic and girls’ 18 singles. Nobody advanced.

Parker Collins of La Canada High, Nick Weiss of Calabasas, Darren Joe of Westlake and Dillon Ruby of Agoura lost in the quarterfinals. So did Helena Horak of Westlake Village, Tiffany Gibbs of Camarillo and Erin Smith of Thousand Oaks.

“We just met some tough opponents who played better today,” Ruby said. “This is a prestigious tournament, and everybody gets psyched up to try to play at the highest level they can.”

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Harvard-Westlake boys’ Coach Harry Salamandra said he will step down at the end of the season. Salamandra, who has led the Wolverines to five Southern Section championships in his 18 seasons, will become head of the upper school next fall.

“I’m going to miss this,” he said. “It’s been a nice release.”

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Former Ventura High standout Darren Potkey is not playing at Ojai for the first time in nearly a decade now that the Big West Conference has decided to hold its men’s championships at Ojai every two years.

But the UC Santa Barbara senior is getting more action than ever.

Potkey is hosting 20 Ojai players--mostly junior competitors from the Inland Empire--at his father’s condo in Port Hueneme.

According to house rules, nobody still alive in the tournament has to sleep on the floor.

“I sleep in the kitchen,” said Potkey, who is 19-2 for the Gauchos (15-5), who are having one of the best seasons in school history.

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Rio Mesa alum Mike Bryan was involved in two of the closest matches of the tournament, both on center court. In a Friday morning singles match against UCLA’s Eric Taino, the Stanford freshman lost, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the afternoon, he and his twin, Bob, beat Tom Hauglund and Henrik Wagner of Arizona, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4. Said Bryan: “It was a l-o-o-o-n-g day.”