Harvard Rides Doubles Wins to Tennis Title

Buoyed by consistent doubles play, Harvard High recovered from a slow start and defeated Cate, 10-8, to win the Southern Section 2-A Division tennis championship at Balboa Park in Encino.

Under Coach Harry Salamandra, Harvard (17-2) has won four consecutive Southern Section titles, two in the 1-A Division and two in the 2-A. Cate (22-2), which is located in Carpinteria, was the Condor League champion and the top-seeded team in the playoffs.

“They knew that they had the potential to outplay this team,” Salamandra said of his players. “But they’d have to work awful hard to do it.”

As was the case in the quarterfinals and semifinals, the Saracens fell behind in the first of three rounds. Cate held a 4-2 advantage after the first round and quickly recorded a singles victory to begin the second round.

Harvard battled back and forged a 6-6 tie to close the second round.

“They’re fighters,” Salamandra said. “They seem to play better when they’re down. They are slow starting but I don’t know if it is nerves or what.”

Harvard’s Pat List, who plays No. 1 doubles with Chris Pisano, has a different theory.

“We get out of the warmup and we’re just not thinking tennis,” said List, who lost the first set before winning the final two.

Some Harvard players, however, were thinking tennis. The No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Steve Jang and freshman Josh Litter, swept its opponents, defeating Matt Schwartz and John Crew, 7-5; Fritz Hummelt and Nick Meyer, 6-3; and Seth Mallen and William Pan, 6-3.

“They are going to be tough,” Cate Coach Robert Bonning said of Jang and Litter. “Both have nice crisp volleys, they keep the ball down and they’re tough on points.”

Despite that, they don’t exactly inspire fear in their opponents when they take the court: Litter is 5 feet tall, and Jang stands 5-3.

“I hear people say, ‘Hey, hit it to the small guy,’ ” said Litter, who has been playing in tournaments for four years. “I just try to stay consistent.

“They want to intimidate me. I have to keep my head together and try to pull the points out.”

Raj Vaswani also contributed to the win. Harvard’s top singles player, Vaswani was the only Saracen to win two sets in singles, defeating Till Falke, 6-2, and Dennis Phelps, 6-1. He lost to Jim Vincent, 6-4.

Harvard beat San Dimas, Montclair, Santa Maria and Keppel to reach the final. The Saracens, who shared the San Fernando Valley League title with Notre Dame then lost a coin flip, were seeded sixth in the tournament.