Westlake Doesn’t Have Watertight Lead

The Southern Section Division III championship boys’ tennis match between Westlake and Beverly Hills highs was suspended because of rain Wednesday at the Westlake Tennis and Swim Club.

Weather permitting, the match is scheduled to be either continued or replayed in its entirety today beginning at 2 p.m. at the same location.

The rainout of a tennis final is believed to be the first in Southern Section history, and officials of the two schools were uncertain where play would be picked up today.

“This has never happened, so we’ll have to see,” said Athletic Director Joseph Pawlick of Westlake. “I’ll have the Southern Section office on the phone at 8:30 in the morning.”

The match was stopped with Westlake holding a 5-4 lead in the middle of the second round of play in the three-round, round-robin competition.

The match began at 3:15 p.m. and the first round continued in a light drizzle.

Early in the second round, however, it began to rain more steadily and play was halted for 20 minutes before a decision was made to stop the match and play today.

“Our great concern is that we get it in by the end of the week,” Pawlick said.

At Westlake, final exams for graduating seniors are scheduled for next week.

Second-seeded Westlake (22-1) won all the singles sets that were completed, top-seeded Beverly Hills (16-4) all of the doubles sets.

“I expected a tough match, and this is tough,” said first-year Coach Bernard Kuai of Westlake.

The teams were tied at three sets after the first round of play, and the Warriors, in fact, seemed glad for the chance to come back today and possibly start again.

“Me personally, I wasn’t playing that well, and I don’t think the rest of the team thought they were playing that well, either,” said Alex Yaftali, Westlake’s No. 2 singles player.

“I know I can do better, and I think the doubles teams would probably like to start over, too.”

Beverly Hills was not concerned with the stoppage or having to return to the courts today.

“No one knew what to do,” first-year Coach Mike Margolin of Beverly Hills said, shaking his head.

“But I would almost say it doesn’t matter. I think both teams are good enough, and the teams are evenly enough matched, that I don’t think it gives anyone any real advantage.”

Kuai isn’t sure about that.

“I think we’ll play better tomorrow,” he said.

The Warriors are trying to avoid their third title-match loss in three seasons.

They lost to Beverly Hills, 10-8, in the Division II final last season, and they fell to Harvard-Westlake in the Division III final in 1997.