Southern Section

Tuesday, June 2

SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS
At The Claremont Club

Patience and perseverance paid off for Redlands, Redondo and Calabasas Viewpoint as the teams won their first titles during the Southern Section boys’ tennis championships Wednesday at The Claremont Club.

Top-seeded Redlands (23-2) rode a 16-match winning streak to the Division III title, beating defending-champion Long Beach Poly (21-4) on games, 78-76, after the teams tied, 9-9, in sets. It was the Terriers’ first appearance in a final since 1964.

Redlands’ freshman Andrew Mateljan took a commanding 5-0 lead and won, 6-2, over Long Beach Poly’s Pierre Batton in the deciding third-round set. Batton, a junior, was hampered by cramps in his left calf in the last set. He won his other two sets, 6-4, 6-2, but so did Mateljan, 6-4, 6-1.

Redlands claimed six of nine singles sets to counteract the Jackrabbits’ victories in six of nine doubles sets, including a three-set sweep by Albert Barnum and Miguel Rodriguez.

The defeat ended second-seeded Poly’s 13-match winning streak.

In Division IV, top-seeded Redondo (27-2) won its first boys’ tennis title in school history by defeating Brentwood, 12-6. Brentwood beat Redondo by the same score in last season’s championship match.

“It’s unreal,” junior Andy Gerst said. “We had a season any team would dream of.”

Juniors Andy Gerst and Nick Berger won the Southern Section doubles title on Saturday over teammates Jon Vlasach and Logan Bailey. Gerst, senior Nathan Stadler, Berger and partner Chance Finley, and Vlasach and Bailey all swept their sets Wednesday.

Redondo’s only two losses this season came in the National High School tournament at Corona del Mar in April. Second-seeded Brentwood finished 18-7.

For second-seeded Viewpoint (21-2), which defeated Liberty League rival North Hollywood Oakwood (12-6), 13-5, in the Division V title match, the championship was the school’s first in any sport.

Senior Geoff Chizever swept his sets to remain undefeated in team matches this season. Viewpoint took seven of nine doubles sets.

In other matches:

North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake def. Los Angeles Loyola, 14-4 - The Wolverines (22-0), who had beaten Loyola twice in Mission League play, won their second title in three years. They defeated Brentwood in the Division V final in 2002.

Second-seeded Harvard-Westlake took a 5-1 lead after the first round of matches and never let the unseeded Cubs (20-4) get close.

Wolverine Coach Chris Simpson sat out two of his top singles players before the last round.

The Wolverines took eight of nine doubles sets, including a 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 sweep by juniors Sam Wagner and Hiro Kobayashi.

“We knew we had the talent and the team to win it,” Wagner said.

Fullerton Sunny Hills 10, Palm Desert 8 - Sophomore Michael Eraso won two key singles sets and the doubles team of juniors Ryan Daily and K-Ming Lee swept three sets as the second-seeded Lancers (22-2) won the Division II title, their first since 1997.

Eraso overcame a 5-2 deficit against Jordan Colman and took the last five games to win, 7-5, in their first-round set of round-robin competition.

Eraso also overcame a pulled muscle in his right calf to beat top-ranked Palm Desert’s Vince Karlen, 6-3, and avenge a loss he suffered against Karlen in the Lancers’ semifinal loss to the Aztecs (23-2) last season.

Daily and Lee, usually Sunny Hills’ No. 2 doubles team, played in the No. 3 spot and claimed a 6-3 victory over Palm Desert’s No. 1 team of Mike Sindoni and Kellan Webb in another critical third-round set. Daily and Lee also won their other sets, 6-1, 6-4.

Sunny Hills, the Freeway League co-champion with Fullerton Troy, ended the season with a 10-match winning streak.
--Elia Powers and Lauren Peterson

DIVISION I

Harvard-Westlake 14, Loyola 4

SINGLES: Josh Lederman, Harvard-Westlake, d. Bryan Ross, 6-2; Kasirer, Harvard-Westlake, lost to Mario Ecung, 3-6; Lederman d. Ray Alvarez, 6-2; Jon Greenberg, Harvard-Westlake, d. Ross, 6-0, d. Ecung, 7-5, d. Alvarez, 6-0; DeWitt, Harvard-Westlake, lost to Ross, 6-1; Bret Thacher, Harvard-Westlake, d. Ecung, 6-3, lost to Alvarez, 7-6 (4).

DOUBLES: Sam Wagner-Hiro Kobayashi, Harvard-Westlake, d. Max Ortiz-Jeff Niedermeyer, 6-0, d. Brian King-Peter Del Moral, 6-1, d. John Curtius-Will Sobigian, 6-2; Jon Lieberman-Tim Root, Harvard-Westlake, lost to Ortiz-Niedermeyer, 3-6, d. King-Del Moral, 7-5, d. Curtius-Sobigian, 6-4; Andrew Segal-Michael Vann, Harvard-Westlake, d. Ortiz-Niedermeyer, 6-3, d. King-Del Moral, 7-6 (4), d. Curtius-Sobigian, 6-1.

Records: Harvard-Westlake 22-0; Loyola 20-4

DIVISION II

Sunny Hills 10, Palm Desert 8

SINGLES: Meeshaan Shah, Sunny Hills lost to Cale Planck, 6-1; Jason Choi, Sunny Hills lost to Jordan Colman, 6-1; John Chung, Sunny Hills lost to Vince Karlen, 6-0; Michael Eraso, Sunny Hills, lost to Planck, 6-2, d. Colman, 7-5, d. Karlen, 6-3; Greg Sturman, Sunny Hills, lost to Planck, 6-3, d. Colman, 6-2, d. Karlen, 6-3.

DOUBLES: James Lee-Grady Shon, Sunny Hills, lost to Mike Sindoni-Kellan Webb, 6-4, d. Harrison Roberts-Coleman Olinger, 6-3, lost to Cleve Langford-C.J. Shapard, 6-3; Steve Hong-Chris Cabanilla, Sunny Hills, lost to Sindoni-Webb, 6-2, d. Roberts-Olinger, 6-3, d. Langford-Shapard, 6-2; Ryan Daily-K-Ming Lee, Sunny Hills d. Sindoni-Webb, 6-3, d. Roberts-Olinger, 6-1, d. Langford-Shapard, 6-4.

Records: Sunny Hills 22-2; Palm Desert 23-2.

DIVISION III

Redlands 9, Long Beach Poly 9 (Redlands wins on games, 78-76)

SINGLES: Robert Rye, Long Beach Poly, lost to Andrew Mateljan, 6-4, lost to Alan Estareja, 4-6, d. Chris Young, 6-4; Brent Wong, Long Beach Poly, lost to Mateljan, 6-1, lost to Estareja, 6-2, lost to Young, 6-0; Pierre Batton, Long Beach Poly, lost to Mateljan, 6-2, d. Estareja, 6-4, d. Young, 6-2.

DOUBLES: Albert Barnum-Miguel Rodriguez, Long Beach Poly d. Connor Artigue-Chris Firek, 6-3, d. David Kim-Alok Chandiok, 6-2, d. Vlad Zabadayev-Kapil Dandamudi, 6-3; Alex Oberjuerge-Jeryl Barnum, Long Beach Poly, lost to Artigue-Firek, 6-3, lost to Kim-Chandiok, 6-2, d. Zabadayev-Dandamudi, 6-0; Steve Thai-Hubert Barnum, Long Beach Poly lost to Artigue-Firek, 6-3, d. Kim-Chandiok, 6-4, d. Zabadayev-Dandamudi, 6-2.

Records: Long Beach Poly 21-4; Redlands 23-2.

DIVISION IV

Redondo 12, Brentwood 6

SINGLES: Daniel Freeman, Brentwood, lost to Andy Gerst, 6-1, d. Ronit Mukerji, 6-4, lost to Nathan Stadler, 6-1; Jeff Karsh, Brentwood, lost to Gerst, 6-4, d. Mukerji, 6-1, lost to Stadler, 6-4; Tommy Norminton, Brentwood, lost to Gerst, 6-1, d. Mukerji, 6-0, lost to Stadler, 6-0.

DOUBLES: Evan Paley-Max Elins, Brentwood, d. Alvin Jeong-Tesh Demasas, 6-2, lost to Nick Berger-Chance Finley, 6-3, lost to Jon Vlasach-Logan Bailey, 6-1;Michael Riorden-Aiden Lloyd, Brentwood, d. Jeong-Demasas, 6-4, lost to Berger-Finley, 6-3, lost to Vlasach-Bailey, 6-3; Steve Elson-Chuckie Huenegardt d. Jeong-Damasas, 6-0, lost to Berger-Finley, 6-2, lost to Vlasach-Bailey, 6-1.

Records: Redondo 27-2; Brentwood 18-7.

DIVISION V

Viewpoint 13, Oakwood 5

SINGLES: Kamyar Karimlou, Oakwood lost to Geoffrey Chizever, 6-2, lost to Tyler Mullen, 6-0, d. Arjun Kolachalam, 6-0; Andrew Elrich, Oakwood, lost to Chizever, 6-3, d. Mullen, 6-1, d. Kolachalam, 6-0; Drew Eget, Oakwood, lost to Chizever, 6-0, lost to Mullen, 6-2, lost to Kolachalam, 6-2.

DOUBLES: Jordan Teller-Alex Casnoff, Oakwood, lost to Nigel Beckmeier-Josh Bernstein, 6-4, lost to Reed Lerner-Todd Snyder, 6-3, lost to Sean Mazur-Donald Stern, 6-4; Aaron Greenberg-Noah Kraft, Oakwood, lost to Beckmeier-Bernstein, 6-3, lost to Lerner-Snyder, 6-2, lost to Mazur-Stern, 6-2; Justin Levine-Calvin Robertson, Oakwood, lost to Beckmeier-Bernstein, 6-3, d. Lerner-Snyder, 6-2, d. Mazur-Stern, 6-2.

Records: Oakwood 12-6; Viewpoint 21-2.