Make that 11 consecutive Channel League boys tennis titles for the Santa Barbara Dons.
The mighty Dons defeated visiting Dos Pueblos 15-3 Thursday to clinch the league crown behind a 3-0 performance by Chase Melton in singles and an 8-1 advantage in doubles sets.
“It wasn’t an easy match. We used more starters for a longer period than we have in a long time,” said coach Steve Geremia. “DP’s coaches do a great job and they competed very hard.”
Sasha Gryaznov had a big day for the Chargers, going 2-1 in singles including a win over Dons standout Billy Grokenberger.
“Sasha played a marvelous match for them to beat Billy in a tiebreaker… Billy is unquestionably the best high school doubles player in California,” said Geremia.
Gryaznov also took down Jim Vaughan by breaking serve in the last game.
But the Dons were too much, as they’ve been for every Channel League opponent for the past 11 years.
“Their depth in singles and doubles prove why they won the Griggs Cup at Ojai,” said DP coach Liz Frech.
Santa Barbara improved to 14-3, 8-0 while the Chargers are 13-4, 6-2. The regular season is now over for both teams, and the Channel League individual tourney is on tap for Monday at Buena.
SANTA BARBARA 15, DOS PUEBLOS 3
Singles — DP: Richard Cheng 0-2, Christian Edstrom 0-2, Sasha Gryaznov 2-1, Sean Simpson 0-1, Eric Zmolek 0-1. SB: Billy Grokenberger 1-1, Chase Melton 3-0, Jimmy Vaughan 1-1, Matt Baum 1-0, Cooper Matheson 1-0.
Doubles — DP: Andy Silverstein/Eric Katz 1-2, John Kim/Malcolm Sutton 0-2, Austin Cano/Peter Shao 0-2, John Kim/Jake Roberts 0-1, Austin Cano/Robert Laskin 0-1. SB: Spencer Simon/Evan Teufel 2-0, Chris Williams/Danny Diaz 3-0, Matt Demopoulos/Cristian Wheeler 2-0, Jeremy Kirchhoff/Logan Liddell 0-1, Adrian Huffard/Christ Grant 1-0.
