The Palisades High boys tennis team made history by winning its record sixth straight City Section tennis championship last season.
So the obvious goal this year is to make it seven titles in a row, but head coach Bud Kling knows that will be no easy task, especially after several players expected back from last year’s team chose not to return.
“We thought we’d have a lot of depth and now we don’t,” said Kling, who reached the 1,000-win plateau last season, only the third coach in state history to do so. “We’ll be real top heavy. We should be stronger in singles than last year but at this point it’s all conjecture. Someone’s absence is someone else’s opportunity.”
Photo: Steve Galluzzo
The singles lineup features junior co-captain Ben Goldberg, sophomores Lucas Bellamy, R.J. Sands and freshmen Jake Sands and Diego Huttepain.
Doubles players include co-captain Joseph Bailey and fellow seniors Arvin Hedayaty, Barron Chavez, sophomores Joseph Nahm, Jordan Seibel and Jason Freedland and freshman Jack Harrington.
Vying for varsity playng time will be junior Jackson Novak and freshmen Ethan Subel, Ryubi Umeda, Andrew Strohmeier and Alexander Strohmeier.
The Dolphins defeated El Camino Real by half a point in the finals last season, but Kling believes the biggest threat this year will be Granada Hills, which added two ranked players and returns three of its top five starters.
“They’ll give us a great match if and when we meet,” Kling predicted. “We have two experienced varsity returners in doubles.”
The Dolphins open their season at 2:30 p.m. Monday against Crossroads at the Palisades Tennis Center and travel to Beverly Hills next Thursday. Western League play begins March 2 against LACES.
“We’re playing the California Tennis Classic in Fresno again and I’ve scheduled some tough opponents like I always do to prepare us.”
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