Southern Section 3-A Tennis Championships : Woodbridge Is Just One Set Better : Steinhardt’s Victory Over Henderson Defeats Sunny Hills

One singles set went a long way toward determining the Southern Section 3-A tennis championship Wednesday at the Sunny Hills Racquet Club in Fullerton.

Through two rounds of the match, Woodbridge and Sunny Hills were deadlocked. Woodbridge dominated play in singles and Sunny Hills controlled the doubles. Entering the third and final round, the teams were tied, 6-6, and appeared headed for a 9-9 tie.

Alex Steinhardt, Woodbridge’s No. 2 singles player, faced Glenn Henderson, Sunny Hills’ best singles player who was playing at No. 3 to strengthen the Lancers’ lineup. Steinhardt beat Henderson and Woodbridge went on to defeat Sunny Hills, 10-8, for its first Southern Section tennis title. Woodbridge finished the season with a 20-4 record.

“I knew the match was crucial going in,” Steinhardt said. “(Henderson) is a tough player. I knew my only chance to beat him was to play all out.”

Steinhardt got ahead of Henderson early and stayed ahead, winning, 6-4. He won all three of his sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, as Woodbridge won seven of the nine singles sets.

“Steinhardt is one of the toughest competitors I know,” Woodbridge Coach Greg Tarr said.

Randy Ivey, the Warriors’ No. 1 singles player who had advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section singles tournament last Saturday, also swept his sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4. During Ivey’s 6-4 victory over Henderson in the second round, he showed an uncharacteristic bit of emotion.

Ivey and Henderson exchanged volleys--verbal ones in addition to the tennis variety--at the net late in the set. Nothing further came of the confrontation and Ivey went on to win.

“I’m usually calm,” said Ivey, who normally shows little emotion whether winning or losing. “He got me going.”

The exchange seemed to spur on the Warriors. They won four of the six sets in the third round. A 6-2 victory by Chris Emery, Woodbridge’s No. 3 player, over Sameer Gavankar clinched the match for Woodbridge.

Had Emery lost, the match would have been tied, 9-9, but Woodbridge would have won the tiebreaker because of the number of games it won.

It was a good thing the Warriors won so many singles matches because Sunny Hills won six of the nine doubles sets. Jason Klingsberg and Andrew Duncan, Sunny Hills No. 1 team, swept three sets as did Hans Ereklens and Nathan Winn, the No. 3 team. But the match still came down to the final round.

“We had to win four of the six sets,” Sunny Hills Coach Steve White said. “We played the best we could, it just fell through. We were right there.”

In many ways, the match was similar to the Lancers’ semifinal-round victory over Laguna Beach. Sunny Hills dominated the doubles, but didn’t measure up in singles. Still, the Lancers managed to pull of an upset, 10-8, in that one.

“We played over our heads in some ways (against Laguna Beach),” White said. “I would have liked to have won this one. I thought we had a shot at beating (Woodbridge).”

Sunny Hills, which finished its season with a 22-2 record, was trying to win its first Southern Section title. It had advanced to the 4-A title match in 1976 and ’77.

It was Woodbridge’s first championship after reaching the semifinals last year.