Dolphin Dynasty: Pali High Tennis Routs Granada Hills for Its Ninth Consecutive City Title

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

No No. 1? No problem. Even without its best player, the Palisades High boys tennis team is head and shoulders above the rest of the City Section. The Dolphins left no doubt of that in Tuesday afternoon’s Division I final at Balboa Sports Center, defeating Granada Hills 21-8 1/2 for their record ninth straight title and 35th overall. There seems to be no end in sight to Palisades’ dynasty and with the latest chapter in the program’s storied history at last complete, head coach Bud Kling expressed more relief than elation.

“It’s always nice to win City and that’s always our goal but after winning the other two big tournaments (Fresno and the National All-American) this almost feels anticlamactic,” Kling said of his 42nd City crown (25 with the boys, 17 more with the girls) since 1979. “It’s also not as much fun when you have to leave one of your guys behind, but that’s the way it goes.”

The highly-anticipated matchup at No. 1 singles between Palisades junior Jake Sands and Granada Hills’ senior captain Ryan Nuno didn’t happen because Kling benched his top gun for failing to fulfill his time commitments to the team in the two days leading up to Tuesday’s final. Nuno, meanwhile, was moved to doubles in an effort to gain the Highlanders an extra half point in the round robin scoring format, in which singles sets are worth one point each and doubles sets are worth one and a half points.

The gamble worked, as Nuno and partner Diego Camarillo swept at No. 1 doubles, 6-1, 6-4, 6-0, but it wasn’t nearly enough to get the second-seeded Highlanders over the hump.

“Coach told me at practice yesterday that I’d be playing doubles and I didn’t mind… whatever is best for the team,” said Nuno, the reigning City singles champion. “If I stayed in singles, even if I won all of my sets the most I could get is four [points], so coach thought this gives  us the best chance. I look forward to playing Jake in Inividuals.

The Dolphins’ No. 1 duo of Jack Harrington and Lincoln Bellamy clinched the championship with a 6-0 victory over Granada Hills’ No. 3 tandem of Samuel Blumkin and David Yang, lifting Palisades to the 15 point threshold.

“Coach told us afterwards we got the deciding point,” said Harrington, whose younger sister Kate and her doubles partner clinched the City title for the Pali High girls team in the fall. “I’ve played with Lincoln a lot. He likes the forehand side, I like the backhand side, he has a big serve and I like playing at the net, so it all works.”

Stepping up to play No. 1 singles in place of Sands was his older brother RJ, who won three of his four sets. Fellow senior Lucas Bellamy, who is paired with RJ Sands for the CIF doubles division at the Ojai Tournament this weekend, swept his four sets at No. 2 singles, including a 6-4 upset of Granada Hills’ David Lin.         

“This [title] is the best because it’s my last,” said Bellamy, who will reunite with former Dolphins captain Ben Goldberg next year at UCLA. “I feel bad saying it, but I’m glad to get this over with. Missing school is my favorite part but the coolest thing is being with my teammates and pumping them up. There was definitely some extra pressure. It was kind of scary knowing Jake wouldn’t be here because he’s used to taking care of business. I’ll come back for every CIF final for Pali—that’s a promise!” 

Diego Huttepain won three out of four at No. 3 singles and Henry Lovett won two sets in the No. 4 position. Danilo Milic and Jason Freedland won two out of three sets at No. 2 doubles and Nick Arvin teamed with Alex Strohmeier to win two out of three at the No. 3 spot.

In the semifinals Friday at Rancho Park, JV call-up Matt Webber teamed with Arvin to sweep at No. 3 doubles in Palisades’ 28-1 1/2 rout of Eagle Rock. The top–seeded Dolphins did not drop a game in 16 singles sets. “I can’t remember that happening before,” Kling said.