SoCal Sectional’s Round of 16 stops local juniors

Ryan Peus, Kayla Day, Lauren Stratman, Marianna Alevra, Kevin Ha and Sasha Gryaznov advanced into the later rounds of the 108th Southern California Junior Sectional this weekend, each winning several matches to navigate the massive draws found at the tournament, which is one of the country's largest junior tournament that takes nearly two weeks to complete.The Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club in Fountain Valley hosted the event.Peus was second seeded in the 12-and-under girls division, … [Read more...]

Santa Barbara crushed in title match, 17-1

sbtentab

CLAREMONT - Santa Barbara High's boys tennis team reached its second Division-I CIF Final in three years with top singles player Chase Melton making an undefeated run through the playoffs.Suddenly without him due to an ill-timed ailment, the stunned Dons suffered a resounding 17-1 defeat to top-seeded University at the Claremont Club on Thursday."When Chase got so sick that he couldn't make the trip, we really didn't have the inspiration that he normally gives us," said Dons head coach Steve … [Read more...]

University ushers in CIF title by routing Dons

CLAREMONT - Santa Barbara High's boys tennis team reached its second Division-I CIF Final in three years with top singles player Chase Melton making an undefeated run through the playoffs.Suddenly without him due to an ill-timed ailment, the stunned Dons suffered a resounding 17-1 defeat to top-seeded University at the Claremont Club on Thursday."When Chase got so sick that he couldn't make the trip we really didn't have the inspiration that he normally gives us," said Dons head coach Steve … [Read more...]

No. 1 seeds erase Dons at CIF Individuals

It took the best of the best to rid the CIF Individual Tennis Finals of Santa Barbara High players on Friday, as the Dons' representatives were ousted by No. 1 seeds at the Seal Beach Tennis Center.Dan Diaz and Matt Baum won their Round of 16 match before falling in the quarterfinals of the doubles draw to top-seeded Reo Asami and Ryan Chung, of University, 6-2, 6-3.Channel League singles champion Chase Melton was stopped by No. 1-seed Clarke Spinosa in the Round of 16 6-1, 6-2. … [Read more...]

Dons double-up on CDM to make CIF Final

Coming into Tuesday's CIF semifinal match, Santa Barbara High's boys tennis team prepared for a stiff challenge from visiting Corona del Mar. The No. 3 Sea Kings were holders of an 18-2 record, their only losses to undefeated and No. 1-ranked University.So a 12-6 victory was great news for the Dons, who move on to face the same University team - 14-4 winners over Harvard-Westlake in the other Division-I semifinal - in next Wednesday's CIF Final at the Claremont Club."We've really come together … [Read more...]

CIF tennis, baseball, softball back on for Tuesday

As CIF playoff draws progress, the competition naturally gets stiffer and the pressure rises.Santa Barbara High's tennis team can attest to that, as the Dons anxiously await Tuesday's semifinal clash with third-seeded Corona del Mar. Santa Barbara, the No. 2 seed, won the coin flip and will host the Sea Kings on the Santa Barbara High courts.The baseball and softball postseason began a week later than tennis and Tuesday's action is only the second round.Santa Barbara High's baseball team … [Read more...]

Baum and Diaz claim CIF Finals spot

Matt Baum and Dan Diaz share a half-embrace after upsetting

Matt Baum and Dan Diaz might not supposed to be there, but they will be.Against all odds, the Santa Barbara High doubles team upset Harvard-Westlake's Chris Kenney and Spencer Suk on Friday at the CIF Individual Regionals to advance to next week's CIF Finals.Baum and Diaz drew a crowd against Kenney and Suk, the Mission League champions. The two teams split the first two sets before the Santa Barbara tandem faced double-match point in the super tiebreaker at 9-7.  Baum and Diaz rallied, … [Read more...]

Semifinal spot comes easy for Dons

The Santa Barbara boys tennis team made a rout of its CIF quarterfinal match on Tuesday, beating Woodbridge 15-3 in Irvine.Despite the final score, the match was close between the two teams until the end of the second round.In the first round, the score was 2-2 with two matches still on the court. The Santa Barbara doubles team of Adrian Huffard and Logan Liddell clinched the remaining doubles set in a tiebreaker to win the first round, 4-2.In the second round, Santa Barbara’s No. 1 … [Read more...]

Tiebreaker ends as a heartbreaker for Rams

Cate's boys tennis team lost its way on the CIF trail on Tuesday, getting knocked out of the postseason in a 9-9 quarterfinal match that went to Sage Hill for holding an 80-79 total-games advantage.The No. 2 Rams needed to fight back after falling behind 4-2 before the second round. Blake Mackall steadied Cate's lineup by being the only singles player to go 3-0 in the match. Cate rebounded to win the second round 4-2 and the final round was even.Robbe Simon and Sean Batten counterbalanced … [Read more...]

Dons, Rams hit the road again for CIF

Starting the second week of CIF, the two-seeded Santa Barbara and Cate boys tennis teams are alive and well heading into Tuesday's quarterfinals.The Dons defeated Westlake 13-5 in their last matchup while Cate whooped on Gahr 18-0.  And even though both teams were on the road for their second-round matches, both teams will travel again on Tuesday.VIEW COMPLETE CIF DRAWBoth schools are the No. 2 seed in their respective division, the Dons in Division I and the Rams in Division IV, but … [Read more...]