They’re Recovering From an Imperfect Off-Season

Minutes after his team completed a perfect season with an 11-7 victory over Brentwood in the Southern Section Division II boys’ tennis final last year, University Coach Jeff Hammond was asked to look ahead.

“As long as the team stays intact,” Hammond said, “we should be pretty good next year.”

Little did Hammond know how prophetic his comment would be. Within days of University’s first section title in 11 years, Hammond’s players began dropping like an Andre Agassi topspin lob.

* Junior Aaron Yovan, the Trojans’ No. 1 singles player, missed the entire summer after injuring his lower back during the Southern California Junior Sectionals in June.

* Junior Henry Mak, the No. 2 singles player, came down with a blood infection two days before the USTA Hardcourt tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich., and has not played a match since.

* Sophomore Jack Li, at No. 3 singles, strained an abdominal muscle in late November and missed 2 1/2 months.

* Junior Jeff Lawrence, who played No. 1 doubles with junior Anson Hsu, tore cartilage in his wrist while practicing and missed nearly three months.

* Senior Jeff Kim, who plays No. 3 doubles, was clipped on the back of his neck by the edge of a wayward snowboard three weeks ago. He took 20 stitches and has not stepped on the court since the accident. But it could have been much worse. The snowboard barely missed his spinal cord. Kim is expected to return for the opening of the tennis season.

“Other than all that, we’re perfectly healthy,” Hammond said.

And how is Hammond?

“I’m OK,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t suit up.”

Too bad. The Trojans could use him. Hammond played four years of high school tennis in Indianapolis and four years at the University of Vermont from 1989-93.

Hammond is trying to maintain his sense of humor through all the freak injuries and ailments, but he’s also trying to prevent further problems. After Lawrence came down with the flu last week, Hammond lectured his team on the benefits of clean living.

“I told them they needed to wash their hands as much as possible,” he said. “It’s one thing after another with these guys. It’s crazy.”

Hammond is hoping most of the craziness is behind his team. Of the five players who missed time during the off-season, Mak is the only one out indefinitely. Until Mak returns, Lawrence will play No. 3 singles and Li will move up to No. 2 singles.

Without Mak, the Trojans won’t have the talent or depth they had last year, when they rolled over all 20 opponents--University’s closest match was the 11-7 section final. But they will have their humility.

“We don’t take our health for granted anymore,” Hammond said. “And I don’t think we’ll come out overconfident against anyone.

“It’ll be extremely difficult to top what we did last year. But we’ll see if we can.”

*

Other teams to watch:

Corona del Mar--Because of the Southern Section’s new enrollment-based playoff system, the county’s elite tennis program will play in Division V--the lowest division. The Sea Kings will be joined in Division V by Brentwood, North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and San Marino, also perennial powers.

Corona del Mar lost the Pacific Coast League title to University last year and was ousted in the Division I semifinals, on games, by Harvard-Westlake. But look for the Sea Kings to be much stronger this year.

Coach Tim Mang returns almost everyone from last year. The singles lineup of senior Brian Morton, junior Cameron Ball and Snyder, the transfer, is second in the Southern Section only to that of Palos Verdes Peninsula. Seniors Peter Kulmaticki and Michael Bean are the reigning Pacific Coast League doubles champions. Senior Randy Myers, a second-team all-county selection, also returns.

If seniors Hunter Jack and Karl Snyder (a transfer from Chicago) had joined the team, Corona del Mar would have been even stronger. But Jack and Snyder, both highly ranked in the boys’ 18 division of Southern California, decided not to play.

Los Alamitos--Division I semifinalists last year, the Griffins return their top two singles players, Kevin McQuaid and John Mano, and top doubles player Mike O’Bradovitch.

Servite--The Friars have possibly their deepest team in Coach Dick Fumanti’s 10-year tenure. Patrick Buchanan, the No. 1 singles player, is ranked 11th in Southern California in the boys’ 16s. Freshman Jonathan Sanchez is fourth in the boys’ 14s. Fumanti also welcomes freshmen Tyrone Wang and Steven Buchanan, Patrick’s brother.

Troy--The Warriors return seven from a team that was 26-1 and reached the Division II semifinals, where they lost to University. Jeffrey Das, the No. 1 singles player, is ranked 17th in the boys’ 16s.