Pali High Tennis in Seventh Heaven

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Knowing that the opponent’s singles players were formidable, the Granada Hills boys tennis team moved two of its singles players to doubles for Monday’s City Section Division I championship match.

Palisades, however, arrived at Balboa Tennis Center in Encino with the mindset that no matter what the Highlanders tried, it wouldn’t work. Three hours later, the Dolphins’ confidence proved to be justified when they claimed their record seventh consecutive City title and 33rd overall with a surprisingly easy 26 to 3 1/2 victory.

Palisades not only won eight of nine doubles sets, it also dominated in singles, taking 14 of 16 sets to turn what was expected to be a tight contest into one of the most lopsided finals ever.

Barron Chavez and Diego Huttepain trailed their first set 5-2 but came back to defeat the Highlanders’ top duo of Brian Bonilla and Sebastian Prokic – who normally play No. 3 and No. 4 singles.

“Those were their two singles guys, so I was happy to get that one,” said Chavez, a senior headed to High Point University in North Carolina. “When we got behind we switched to Australian [doubles] so I didn’t have to hit a backhand, we stopped going for low percentage shots down the line and we stopped double faulting. This is the strongest team we’ve had in my three years here. There’s no way I wasn’t going to win this last one.”

Palisades (24-1) jumped ahead 6 1/2 to zero and the previously undefeated Highlanders  didn’t notch a point until Ryan Nuno beat Pali High junior Ben Goldberg 7-5 at No. 1 singles.

However, Goldberg swept his last three sets, including a 7-6 (3) triumph over No. 2 player Daniel Lin. Playing in the No. 2 spot, Lucas Bellamy lost his first set to Lin but won his remaining three, 6-0, 6-1, 6-3.

Bailey Joseph and Jack Harrington earned the 15th and clinching point with a 6-4 win against Bonilla and Prokic.

“We started off nervous and got behind but I told Jack on a changeover if we believe we can win our rackets will do the work for us,” said Joseph, a senior captain headed for UC Berkeley. “I’ve charged the court three times when we’ve won and to have my teammates do it for me feels great.”

Arvin Hedayaty had to win three round robin matches Sunday to earn a spot in the lineup Monday and teamed with Joseph Nahm to win two out of three sets at No. 3 doubles.

“The last three years I’ve been on JV and I only got to watch,” said Hedayaty, a senior going to Cal State Northridge.

“Today I actually contributed so this one means the most.”

“The first set really dictates your attitude for the whole match and it was a good test for our cooperation because we don’t normally play together,” Bonilla said. “It wasn’t really anything they did, we just collapsed so we have to learn from it.”

Playing in the No. 3 singles pot, sophomore RJ Sands got Palisades on the scoreboard first with a 6-0 victory over  Brandon Perrera. Sands was the hero for the Dolphins in last year’s 15 to 14 1/2 finals victory over El Camino Real, upsetting City Individual champion Jaime Barajas in what proved to be the decisive set. He was clutch again Monday, sweeping his four singles sets along with his younger brother Jake, who beat Nuno 6-3 and outlasted Lin in a tiebreaker.

“I played Nuno two years ago and lost in three sets so I tried to be aggressive and not let him control the long points,” Jake Sands said. “RJ wanted to play on the court where he clinched last year so I let him. It feels good and I’m excited to keep the streak going.”

The win completed one of the most dominant playoff runs in City history as Palisades dropped only seven and a half points in three round robin matches.

The Dolphins shut out Western League rival Hamilton 29 1/2 to 0 in last Wednesday’s quarterfinals, losing a total of 14 games in 25 sets.

In Friday’s semifinals, Palisades took down fourth-seeded El Camino Real 25 1/2 to 4, winning 15 of 16 singles sets.

Bellamy blanked the Conquistadores’ No. 3 player Harrison Turner 6-0 for the point that clinched a spot in the final.

“If I was Granada Hills maybe I would’ve tried the same thing but their strategy backfired,” said Pali High coach Bud Kling, who claimed his 38th section title and 23rd with the boys. “Their singles guys got beat up having to play four tough matches.”

The Ojai Valley Tournament starts today and the City Individual Tournament begins Monday.