Cougars, Griffins Aim for First Title

It has been a long time coming for Capistrano Valley and Los Alamitos, but today, one of them will claim a Southern Section boys’ tennis title. The schools, which opened in the late 1970s, had never even reached a section final until this season.

Today at 11 a.m., top-seeded Los Alamitos (20-2) and third-seeded Capistrano Valley (19-0) meet for the Division I title at the Claremont Club.

Los Alamitos appears to have the edge. The Griffins have played a much tougher schedule than the Cougars with their only two losses coming to Corona del Mar and Beverly Hills, finalists in Division V and III. Before Capistrano Valley upset second-seeded Palos Verdes Peninsula in the semifinals, the Cougars’ toughest opponent had been Dana Hills.

Los Alamitos is strong at the top with Kevin McQuaid and John Mano in singles and Jason Wood and Mike O’bradovitch at No. 1 doubles. Capistrano Valley is well-balanced, but the Cougars don’t have any stars.

“There’s a good chance they’ll move one of their singles players into doubles,” Los Alamitos Coach Kevin Garrett said. “I can’t imagine they’ll play us straight up.”

The Division II final at 2:30 p.m. also features two Orange County schools--University and Woodbridge--and both have storied boys’ tennis traditions. Woodbridge won Division I titles in 1996 and ’97 and lost in the ’99 finals to Corona del Mar. University, which won the Division I title in 1987, is playing in its third consecutive Division II title match. The Trojans won the title last year over L.A. Brentwood and lost in 1999 to North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake.

Top-seeded University (17-7), led by the one-two singles punch of Aaron Yovan and Jack Li, has struggled all year with injuries but the Trojans are as healthy as they’ve been all season.

“As long as we play to our abilities, we should be successful,” University Coach Jeff Hammond said.

Second-seeded Woodbridge (19-5), which had a surprisingly easy time with third-seeded Troy in the semifinals, is led by Eric Oijala and Brett Van Linge.

In Division IV, top-seeded Servite (23-0) is heavily favored to win the school’s first title against second-seeded Goleta Dos Pueblos at 1 p.m. Servite, led by Patrick Buchanan and Jonathan Sanchez in singles, has only dropped five games in four playoff matches. Dos Pueblos is led by No. 1 singles player Andy Lin, who is going to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Division V final at 11:30 a.m. between top-seeded Corona del Mar (22-0) and second-seeded Brentwood (14-1) could just as easily be the Division I final. Both schools would have played in Division I this year, but the section’s new enrollment-based playoff format forced them into Division V.

Corona del Mar has already defeated Los Alamitos once and University twice. Brentwood’s only loss came to Corona del Mar, 10-8.

In that match, the Eagles were without No. 2 doubles player Jordan Safan, and No. 3 singles player Eric McKean played doubles because of an injury. There is a chance Brentwood could be short-handed again. Sean McKean, the No. 1 singles player, missed two final exams and practice on Tuesday because of the stomach flu.

“If he is out, we’ll probably have to juggle our lineup,” Brentwood Coach Keith Sarkisian said.

Corona del Mar might have the strongest singles lineup in the section with Brian Morton, Cameron Ball and Garrett Snyder. But the match might come down to the play of the Sea Kings’ No. 1 doubles team of Peter Kulmaticki and Michael Bean.