Harvard-Westlake too much for Hoover

Mirjam Swanson

STUDIO CITY -- First, it came down to focus for the Hoover High boys’

tennis team. Then it came down to heart. And, finally, it came down to

experience, and the ability to deal.

In the end, the Tornadoes’ record received its first blemish, after

they finished down on games, 79-62, after tying in sets with North

Hollywood Harvard Westlake, the No. 2-ranked team in CIF Southern Section

Division V on Wednesday at the Studio City Golf and Tennis Cetner in what

was the first “real test” for both teams.

Hoover, 18-1 and No. 4 in Division I, initially had its hopes kept

alive by No. 3 singles player Sergy Vagramian, who showed he can do the

focused thing, outplaying the Wolverines’ top singles player, Jesse

Terlianto, in the second round with an impressive combination of slices

and topspins, 6-4.

His win put the onus on the newly formed double tandem of Hakop

Tadevosian and Eddie Choi -- who, like the other two Tornado doubles’

pairs, had no idea they would be paired until minutes before the match.

After faltering in their first two attempts as a team, 6-0, 6-0,

Tadevosian and Choi, outlasted Harvard-Westlake’s rallying No. 3 duo,

6-4.

“I’m still shaking,” Tadevosian said five minutes after the set ended.

That, of course, laid what Hoover doubles player Vahe Kassabian termed

a “mountain of pressure” on freshman Sam Tadevosian, the Tornadoes’ No. 2

singles player -- who was up against Terlianto.

“Oh, Sam,” Hoover Coach Lynn Santamaria said. “How much he wanted

that.”

With the match in the balance -- if Tadevosian had won, Hoover would

have too, 10-8, but with his loss, the outcome was what it was -- and

with parents, onlookers, media, and team members watching closely, and

getting increasingly tense themselves, Tadevosian did what he could

against the Wolvernines’ (17-0) top gun.

He fell behind, 3-0, managed to regain his composure to make it 4-1,

before finally succumbing, 6-2.

“I’m really proud of them,” Sanatamaria said. “This is exactly the

pressure one would face in a playoff match, so now that we’ve felt this

pressure, in the playoffs we’ll know how to respond better. This is

absolutely that kind of pressure -- especially for our doubles.”

Which is precisely where Hoover lost the match. Besides Tadevosian and

Choi’s win in the match’s final doubles set, the Tornadoes were shut out

-- whereas the singles lineup was a perfect 8-0 until the match’s last

set.

Moreover, the doubles teams were outscored, 48-12, on games.

So what about those spur-of-the-moment doubles changes, which left

some of the always honest Hoover players a bit frazzled?

“I know that boys are a little upset becaues they think if we had

stayed with our usual lineup [it would have been closer]... but it would

not have,” Santamaria said. “Havard-Westlake just has very good doubles.”

BOX SCORE

SINGLES -- Terlianto (HW) lost to D. Kim, 6-3, def. S. Tadevosian,

6-2, lost to Vagramian, 6-4; Lederman (HW) lost, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; Scher

lost, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

DOUBLES -- Rubenstein/Thayer (HW) def. H. Tadevosian/Choi, 6-0,

Weber/E. Kimm 6-0, Karapetian/Abedian, 6-0; Hiatt/Thacher (HW) won, 6-0,

def. J. Kim/Kassabian, 6-0, 6-2; Wagner/Wiles lost, 6-4, won, 6-0, 6-4.