Zalameda Wins Tennis Singles Title

Riza Zalameda, an avid admirer of Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, wanted to play a match worthy of the tennis star.

“I’m inspired by him,” Zalameda said. “He makes tennis an art.”

The Beverly High senior didn’t quite create her own masterpiece, but she painted the lines well enough to beat Villa Park senior Lindsey Nelson, 7-5, 6-3, in the Southern Section singles title match Friday at SeaCliff Country Club.

“I’m honored,” said Zalameda, who becomes her school’s first Southern Section champion since Cheryl Jones in 1980. “I wanted to win this tournament because everyone in school was saying I could. I try to prove to myself that I can do this.”

Nelson, who will compete for USC next year, lost in the championship match for the third consecutive year, becoming the only player to lose in the final three times in a row.

However, she was also only the third player to advance to three successive title matches, after Barbara Hallquist of Arcadia (1972 to ‘74) and Kelly Henry of Glendale (1977 to ‘79).

“It’s heart-breaking. It’s really heart-breaking,” Nelson said. “I could have walked away last year after losing twice. But I came back out because I love the game and I love to compete, and I did that.”

Zalameda, who will play at UCLA next year, employed drop and slice volleys to erase 3-1 and 4-2 first-set deficits and beat Nelson on key points the rest of the way. The two played through nine deuce points before Zalameda held serve and won the first game of the second set.

Peninsula’s Macall Harkins and Erica Schweyer won the doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Beverly Hills’ Tessa Tran and Tova Hausman.

Lauren Peterson

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Five Southern California teams compete for titles today at the state girls’ volleyball finals at Cypress College.

Los Angeles Marymount (34-1) is favored to set a state record by winning its fourth consecutive Division IV championship when it plays Garden Valley Golden Sierra (38-3), beginning at 11 a.m. The Sailors were ranked No. 1 by The Times when the regular season ended after winning three major tournament titles and defeating some of the top teams in the state. Marymount, which has won three consecutive Southern Section championships, has won four state titles.

Santa Margarita (26-7) returns to the state final for the first time in five seasons and plays a familiar foe, Mt. View St. Francis (28-5), in the Division III championship at 1:30 p.m. The Eagles defeated St. Francis in the state title match in 1999 and lost to the Lancers in the state final a year earlier. St. Francis is attempting to win its fourth consecutive state title in three different divisions.

Santa Ana Mater Dei (35-3) advances to its first state final, where it meets San Jose Archbishop Mitty (33-3) in the Division II championship at 5 p.m. Mitty is making its sixth appearance in a state final and competing in its fourth different division. Mitty has won four state titles in all.

Los Alamitos (27-9), the Southern Section Division I-AA runner-up, regrouped to advance to the Division I state final at 7 p.m., where it will attempt to end the 21-match winning streak of Grass Valley Nevada Union (35-3). It is the first title appearance for both.

-- Paul McLeod

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Senior Mohamed Trafeh of Duarte and junior Mark Matusak of Los Angeles Loyola will head the list of entries from the Southland in the seeded boys’ race of the West Region cross-country championships today at Mt. San Antonio College.

The meet, which has 23 races on its schedule, will start at 7:45 a.m. with a race for seventh- and eighth-grade boys.

The seeded girls’ race will begin at 10:15, followed by the seeded boys’ race at 10:55.

The top eight finishers in the seeded races will advance to the national championships at Morley Field in San Diego on Dec. 13.

Seniors Liza Pasciuto of Murrieta Valley and Lindsay Flacks of North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake top the list of local entries in the seeded girls’ race.

-- John Ortega