Westlake’s Joe on Mission to Stay Unbeaten

Darren Joe, the level-headed standout on the Westlake High tennis team, keeps chugging along, his teammates flanked on either side of him.

Joe remained undefeated with three singles victories in Westlake’s 15-3 decision over Burbank in a Southern Section Division II boys’ tennis quarterfinal Tuesday at North Ranch Country Club.

A senior on his way to Princeton, this Joe isn’t ordinary--he moved to 39-0 on the season--but he casts aside the concept of a one-man team.

“It’s not like it’s all riding on my shoulders,” he said. “We’re all responsible.”

How responsible?

The Westlake team members signed a piece of paper displayed courtside that said, “We’re on a mission.”

The mood is strong, especially after a 10-8 loss last year in the Division III championship against Harvard-Westlake.

Because of an enrollment increase, the top-seeded Warriors (19-0) have moved up a division since last year, but they have brought their game with them.

Joe, who played at No. 1, helped the Warriors to a decisive 7-2 advantage in singles. In doubles, they were 8-1.

“I indeed see, they’re on a mission,” Burbank Coach Clyde Richards said.

Joe was facing his first potential loss of the season when Ben Martin, a transfer from Germany, gave him a scare.

Martin, who plays No. 1 for Burbank, knotted the score of his set with Joe at 4-4, before Joe rallied, breaking Martin’s serve and then holding serve for the 6-4 victory, which took an hour and 10 minutes.

“That was one of the best singles matches I’ve seen in years,” said fifth-year Westlake Coach Grant Calkins, who will step down after the season to give more attention to his computer software business.

“My neurological system won’t allow any more of those [close ones].”

Westlake also had a close call with its No. 1 doubles team of Mike Horak-Joey Schimmel.

The duo appeared a little dazed before the match. Horak was confused on the starting time of the match and arrived 15 minutes before it began.

Schimmel was supposed to have a new pair of shoes delivered by a family member because he busted through the toes of his old pair, but the shoes never arrived, forcing Schimmel to borrow a pair that was a size too small from alternate Billy Corso.

Horak and Schimmel found themselves locked in a 5-5 tie with the No. 1 Burbank team of Emil Avanes and Fred Parvinjah.

But Horak won his serve and then he and Schimmel broke Parvinjah’s serve for a 7-5 victory.

“It’s got to be the shoes,” said Schimmel, a senior who was part of the championship loss last year.

“The reason we lost is we were too cocky,” Schimmel said. “We were going to the finals, thinking, ‘Oh, this is easy.’

“We’re going to win this year, but this time, our egos aren’t going to win--our level of play is going to.”

The Warriors will play the winner of today’s Foothill-Mission Viejo match in a semifinal Thursday at a site to be determined. Having already played three home matches, Westlake likely will play its next match on the road.

Burbank (17-5), which has advanced to the quarterfinals each of the last 11 seasons, picked up two singles victories from Martin, a junior who will return to Germany next year.