Cougars Hope Special Season Will Continue

Capistrano Valley has one of the easier schedules in Orange County, it doesn’t have a highly ranked singles player on the roster and it doesn’t exactly have a rich tennis tradition.

But after defeating rival Dana Hills for the fourth time in a row, winning a second consecutive South Coast League title and completing the first perfect regular season in the program’s history, respect may be on the way.

“Tennis is kind of a quiet sport at our school, but we’re trying to build it,” said senior Derrick Klunchoo, the school’s No. 1 singles player. “We’re getting some good freshmen coming in. I think we’re going to keep putting out good teams.”

This year’s team wasn’t expected to be very good.

Last year, the Cougars went 17-2 and reached the Division I quarterfinals but lost No. 1 singles player Mike Nguyen and No. 1 doubles player Chad Whidtfeldt to graduation.

But projections had to be revised when junior Robbie Lamour transferred from Santa Margarita before the season and joined Klunchoo and junior Logan Johnson in the singles lineup.

“Having Robbie changed the dynamic of the team,” second-year coach Dana Bozeman said. “Now, teams have to face three battlers in singles. So by the time they get to their third set, they’re worn out.”

Had Bozeman known Lamour was coming, he would have scheduled tougher teams. But as it was, Capistrano Valley only played one team ranked among the top 10 in Orange County--Dana Hills. Last Tuesday, the Cougars defeated Dana Hills’ 10-8, probably securing the No. 3 seeding in the upcoming Division I playoffs.

During last week’s match with Dana Hills, Bozeman said he scared his team into raising its level of play.

“I told them, ‘You need to close this out because we don’t want to have to play them in the quarterfinals,” said Bozeman, who played at Dana Hills from 1979-83. “The motivation seemed to work.”

Leading the Cougars to victory were Klunchoo, Lamour and Johnson, who each won two of three sets. On the season, Klunchoo and Lamour finished 43-2, Johnson 40-5. The No. 1 doubles team of Matt Sherman and junior Chad Wallace also won one of three and finished 40-5.

After going 17 years between league titles, Capistrano Valley has now won two in a row. If the Cougars enter the playoffs as the third-seeded team, they could play defending champion Palos Verdes Peninsula in the semifinals.

“I still think Peninsula is still the team to beat,” Bozeman said. “But first we have to get to the semifinals.”

Capistrano Valley has been there only once.

“I think we have a really good chance to go far this year,” said Klunchoo, who will attend UCLA but will not play tennis. “It’s been a really special year. This is it for me, so it would be nice to go out with a bang.”

LOBOS CELEBRATE

Los Amigos won its first Garden Grove League title since 1988 with a 15-3 victory over Santiago. The Lobos completed the regular season with a 17-1 record.

LOOKING AHEAD

Four county teams are expected to be seeded first in their respective division’s when the Southern Section pairings are announced today: Los Alamitos in Division I, University in Division II, Servite in Division IV and Corona del Mar in Division V.

The wild-card round begins Friday. The first round is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 15. The finals will be held Wednesday, May 30 at Claremont Tennis Club.

The section individual tournament begins Saturday, May 20 at four sites: Costa Mesa Tennis Center, Ojai Thacher, Pasadena High and University of Redlands. The round of 16 through the finals will be held Friday and Saturday, May 25-26, at SeaCliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach.

If you have an item or idea for the boys’ tennis report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at david.mckibben@latimes.com

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BOYS’ TENNIS TOP 10

Orange County Sportswriters’

Final Poll

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Pos. School League Rec 1. Corona del Mar (1) P. Coast 18-0 2. Los Alamitos (2) Sunset 15-2 3. Servite (3) Serra 20-0 4. University (4) P. Coast 13-7 5. Cap. Valley (6) S. Coast 15-0 6. Woodbridge (5) Sea View 14-5 7. Troy (7) Freeway 20-3 8. Dana Hills (8) S. Coast 12-5 9. Canyon (9) Century 17-3 10. Sunny Hills (10) Freeway 13-5

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Last week’s rankings in parentheses

Others: Los Amigos (17-1), Santa Margarita (12-6), Irvine (13-4), Mater Dei (14-4), Esperanza (15-3).