Garden Grove Bumped by Top-Seeded Westlake

It had become apparent before the playoff started that the Westlake Village Westlake boys were no ordinary tennis team and their leader was no average Joe.

But with No. 1 singles player Darren Joe leading the way in the Warriors’ 11-7 victory over Garden Grove in the Southern Section Division III semifinals, Westlake is one victory away from becoming the best team in school history.

The top-seeded Warriors (22-0) will face North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake Wednesday at a neutral site for a chance to win the first section title in the school’s 19-year history.

Joe swept three sets at No. 1 singles, and the Warriors clinched the match by winning seven of nine points in singles against the fourth-seeded Argonauts (22-4).

There were three key matchups that swung the contest in Westlake’s favor, and Joe was part of two of them.

First, he overwhelmed Garden Grove’s No. 1 Danny Bui, winning, 6-0, in machine-like fashion. And with the Warriors’ No. 1 doubles team of Joey Schimmel and Mike Horak beating Alex Iha and Huy Le, 6-3, one court over, Westlake took charge early.

The second crucial victory for the Warriors came when freshman Alex Yaftali upset Andro Ignacio in a match of No. 2s. Ignacio, a senior, entered the contest with a 181-26 career record and was clearly the Argonauts’ best player.

Yaftali was losing, 6-5, when he broke Ignacio’s serve to force a tiebreaker, which Yaftali won, 7-5.

Yaftali’s victory gave Westlake a 5-1 lead after the first round.

Then came the third key battle: Joe vs. Ignacio.

Leading, 5-3, Joe had a chance to serve out the set. He couldn’t. Ignacio, with a return winner, broke back to make it 5-4.

Ignacio, attempting to serve his way back into the set, pulled to 30-30 in the final game after Joe played a bad second serve and lost the point. But Joe was spurred by his mistake, and he won the last three points to win, 6-4.