Palisadians Pace Bruins

The UCLA tennis program is poised to make another run in the Pac-12 Conference. In 2019-20,  the Bruins were paced by several Palisadian players.      

The men’s roster included Ben Goldberg and Bellamy brothers Lucas and Roscoe. The Bruins were 9-4 overall, 2-0 in Pac-12 play and had won five matches in a row when the season was halted in mid-March due to COVID-19.

Goldberg finished his senior year with an overall singles record of 11-8 and a 2-3 mark in doubles.  He recorded a team-best four match-clinching points and was a Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member six times in four seasons.

He was 11-12 in singles as a junior and 10-6 as a sophomore in 2017-18, when he went 5-0 in dual matches and also posted a 9-7 record in doubles. He was 7-9 in singles (3-0 in duals) as a freshman in 2016-17.

Prior to UCLA, Goldberg lettered all four years under Coach Bud Kling at Palisades High, where played No. 1 singles and led the Dolphins to four City Section championships while capturing the City Individual singles title in 2015, beating teammate Jake Sands in the final. He notched the Dolphins’ clinching wins at the 2016 California Classic and 2016 City team finals. He captained his team to a 27-2 mark his senior year, notching the Dolphins’ only point in a season-ending defeat to Peninsula in the SoCal Regional quarterfinals.

Lucas Bellamy did not see any dual or tournament action in 2019-20, but as a sophomore the year before he was 1-1 in singles and 3-1 in doubles. Also a six-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member, he reached the second round of the ITA Regional Doubles Championships with partner Connor Rapp as a freshman in 2017-18.

Bellamy, whose mom Beth and older brother Robbie both played for USC, also enjoyed a stellar prep career at Palisades, where he was part of four City title-winning teams and prevailed in a third-set tiebeaker to outlast teammate Diego Huttepain in the City Individual singles final as a senior in 2017, the same year Palisades won the National High School All-American Team Invitational in Newport Beach and finished 30-1, its only loss coming against Torrey Pines in the SoCal Regional semifinals.

Prior to Palisades, Bellamy  reached the Boys 14s singles final at Ojai. In his sophomore year he  won the 16s singles title at the Burbank Tournament. As a senior he paired with RJ Sands to reach the CIF doubles semifinals in Ojai, helping the Dolphins capture the prestigious Griggs Cup.

Roscoe, a year younger than Lucas, joined the Bruins in 2018-19 and went 3-3 in singles as a freshman. In 2019-20 he was 2-1. He is a five-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member.

Although he grew up in the Palisades, Roscoe didn’t play for Pali High. He was a Top 10 national recruit by TennisRecruiting.net and rose as high as No. 4 in 2014. He was the top-ranked player in the country in the Boys 12 and 14 divisions and was No. 1 in Southern California in the 10s. He won  the 2012 USTA Boys 12 National Hard Court Championships in Little Rock, Arkansas and captured singles and doubles titles at the 2014 USTA Boys 14 Sweet 16 National Clay Court Championships in Boca Raton, Florida. Roscoe won back-to-back USTA Boys 16 National Tournaments in Stockton (2014) and Palm Desert (2015) and was twice a doubles champion at the Eddie Herr International Championships. he represented the USA at the Les Petits As in Tarbes, France and at the Nike International Teen Tennis tournament in Bolton, England, where he won the doubles title.

Meanwhile, the UCLA women’s team raced to a 12-1 record and was also undefeated in Pac-12 play when the 2019-20 season came to an abrupt end.

Palisadian junior Sophie Bendetti went 2-2 in doubles competition after not seeing any action as a sophomore. In her true freshman year she went 0-3 in singles and 1-3 in doubles. A stellar student, she is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and eight-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member.

She was MVP three years in a row at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, where she reached the Southern Section doubles final with her younger sister  Chloe in 2016. She was named Girls Tennis Player of the Year by the Ventura County Star in 2016.

Caroline Goldberg, Ben’s sister, was 1-2 in singles in the shortened 2019-20 campaign, her first year in the program. She earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors in 2020 and is a three-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member.

At Pali High, she played No. 1 singles as a freshman and sophomore and made the All-City first team in 2015 and 2016 while leading the Dolphins to back-to-back  City championships. She had a 9-1 record at the 2017 Girls’ 16 Zone Team Championships in Salt Lake City and competed at USTA Level 1 national junior championships like the ITF International Spring Championships, the USTA Billie Jean King National Championships and the Easter Bowl.