Wind knocked out of Sailors

Rick Devereux

The last time Newport Harbor High played Santa Barbara in boys

tennis, the Dons squeaked by with a 10-8 victory April 14.

“We were lucky to beat them the first time,” Santa Barbara Coach

Steve Geremin said.

The rematch Thursday at Newport Harbor had a little bit more at

stake -- a chance to advance in the CIF Southern Section Division I

playoffs. But a slow start doomed the Sailors in a 13-5 loss to last

year’s CIF runner-up.

“We could have played better,” Sailor sophomore Robert Khoury

said. “We weren’t as intense as last time, so that probably played a

big part in [the reason we lost].”

Newport (14-7) was down, 5-1, after the first round of play, with

freshman Jake Fleming providing the lone win. That was decidedly

different than the 3-3 score to start the April 14 match.

“That definitely took the wind out of our sails,” Newport Coach

Jeff Thomsen said. “We were hoping to split with them in the first

round like we did last time to give us a little hope. We knew we were

behind the eight ball once we got down 5-1.”

Khoury, Newport’s top player competing at No. 3 singles, faced

Santa Barbara’s best, Blake Muller, in the first round.

“I had a couple of break points,” Khoury said. “If I converted

them, it could’ve been a different match, but I couldn’t pull it

off.”

Muller won, 6-3, but Khoury won his final two sets of the day, 6-1

and 6-4. Khoury, the Sea View League singles runner-up, will compete

in the CIF singles tournament that begins Saturday.

Tyler Deck and Grant Casserly, Newport’s No. 1 doubles team,

played an intense set against Santa Barbara’s Chris Ho and Grant

Robertson in the first round. The fourth game of the set seesawed

between ad-in, deuce and ad-out until Ho finally put the game away

for the Dons. The vocal Newport fans seemed to irritate the team from

Santa Barbara, but the more annoyed they got, the better the Dons

played before pulling out a 6-3 victory.

“This team play is a lot like the Davis Cup,” Geremin said. “The

fans get into it and are yelling and screaming. I guarantee if it was

at our place, we would have people three deep pounding on the fence.”

Because Khoury won, Newport still had a chance to tie the match if

Fleming could stave off A.J. Stein. If Stein won, Santa Barbara would

have been mathematically assured the victory. The set was

well-balanced with solid play from both athletes, but Fleming

prevailed with a 7-5 win while the entire Newport team cheered on.

“There was a lot of emotion out there against A.J.,” Fleming said.

“I tried to keep the ball in play because he hits harder than me, but

I tried to outsmart him and outplay him.”

Trailing 3-9, Newport needed to sweep all six sets for the tie,

but Ho and Robertson’s quick 6-0 win assured Santa Barbara of the

victory.

“I guess after we were down a couple sets everyone thought we

couldn’t come back, but we’ve got to keep fighting,” Khoury said. “We

didn’t do it today.”

Despite the loss, the season was a success according to Thomsen.

“We had a great run this year,” he said. “I’m really proud of

these guys. They came together as a team all year and they improved

each match.”

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CIF Division I

Second round

Santa Barbara 13, Newport Harbor 5

Singles -- Derek Davis (NH) lost to A.J. Stein, 0-6, lost to Taylor Chavez-goggin, 2-6, lost to Blake Muller, 0-6; Jake Fleming (NH) won, 7-5, 6-2, 6-0; Robert Khoury (NH) won, 6-4, 6-1, lost, 3-6. Doubles -- McLaren-Lefaliay (NH) lost to

Huffard-Soulages, 2-6, lost to Robertson-Ho, 0-6, Williams-Wheller, 0-6; Deck-Casserly (NH) lost, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6; Farmer-Espley-Jones (NH) lost, 3-6, 0-6, 1-6.

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