CdM tandem claims Ojai title

OJAI — It didn’t take long for Corona del Mar High’s Dustin Hladek and Fabian Matthews to figure out Saturday’s CIF division doubles championship match at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament would be a marathon.

The first game against Santa Barbara’s Chris Ho and Billy Grokenberger went to seven deuces.

“I thought it was going to be a really long match after that,” Matthews said. “That took forever.”

To make matters worse, Ho and Grokenberger took the first set, just like they had when the two teams met at the CIF Individual doubles championship last May.

That match was won by CdM in three sets, and Hladek and Matthews made sure it happened again on Saturday. The top-seeded duo rallied for a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory at Libbey Park to claim the title at the prestigious tournament, in its 107th year, known as the Ojai.

It was the first time a CdM duo won an Ojai CIF doubles title since Carsten Ball and Garrett Snyder did it in 2002.

Another local doubles tennis team will try to win a title today, in the community college women’s division. The Orange Coast College duo of Jaleh Mazaheri and Heather Morton upset the top-seeded Chabot team of Megan Kummer and Tiffany Villanueva, 6-1, 6-4, in a semifinal Saturday to advance to today’s final at 3:30 p.m. The Pirates will face Kathy Dennis and Erina Hung of Saddleback. Mazaheri and Morton have lost twice to Dennis and Hung in eight-game pro sets for Orange Empire Conference play this season.

Mazaheri is also in the semifinals for singles after defeating Cuesta’s Chelfui Bingham, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in the quarterfinals Saturday. Mazaheri will face top-seeded Katherine Chavez of El Camino today at 11 a.m.

At that time, CdM Coach Tim Mang and his doubles team will probably still be reflecting on their big wins.

“It was truly a team effort,” Mang said. “In CIF, Fabian was the one that was kind of carrying them, and Dustin came through when he had to. This time, Dustin was the one who was making all the big shots in that third set.”

Corona del Mar shared the prestigious Griggs Cup, given to the Ojai tournament team that wins the most combined singles and doubles matches, with Santa Barbara. It was the fourth time the Sea Kings had won it and the first since 1986.

Corona del Mar High seniors Hayley and Miranda Young also teamed to win the girls’ 18 doubles draw with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Janay Palicte and Paloma Vazquez. Hladek, a senior, and Matthews, a junior, showed impressive mettle. Ho and Grokenberger, the No. 2 seed, are far from pushovers. They were the defending tournament champions, and Ho, a senior, also won it in 2005.

“It seemed like a real doubles match,” said Hladek, who is headed to Indiana University. “The rallies here were unbelievable, and that’s really what doubles is all about, the volleys back and forth.”

CdM was broken at 5-6 in the first set to give the Dons the set, but the Sea Kings refused to fold. They broke Santa Barbara right back to open the second set, then Matthews held at love for a 2-0 lead.

The Dons battled back to 3-3, before four straight volleys from Hladek earned the Sea Kings a break of serve and a 4-3 advantage.

“As it went along, I started to figure out where the bounces were going,” Hladek said. “And Coach [Mang] told me to move forward — he’s always reminding me to do that.”

Santa Barbara rallied for a 5-4 lead, but Matthews held, then CdM earned another big break for a 6-5 lead and eventually took the set.

“That was just a huge break,” Matthews said. “After that, we were pretty confident. They looked pretty tired in the third set.”

Indeed, CdM opened up a 5-2 lead in the set. After Santa Barbara took a game, the match ended when Hladek hit a solid, low return that Grokenberger couldn’t get back over.

“I just think it’s big to beat players as good as them twice in a row,” Hladek said. “To do that is unbelievable.”

The Young sisters, CdM seniors who are headed to Tufts University in Boston, easily won their final match of a four-team draw on a court adjacent to Matthews and Hladek. They snuck peaks at the boys’ match during their changeovers.

“We’re used to having bigger tournaments, obviously, but it was still a good win,” Hayley Young said. “It was fun playing next to [Matthews and Hladek] and representing CdM. I’m glad we won both. It shows the strength of our program.”

Hladek and Matthews made it to the finals by easily taking a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Trent Brown and D.J. Jaehnig of Rancho Bernardo on Saturday morning. Grokenberger and Ho, meanwhile, had to tough out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Costa Mesa resident Charlie Alvarado and Chris Freeman, of Mater Dei.

“I think they ran out of gas against us,” Mang said.

OCC’s doubles team of Pat Lam and Charlie Nguyen also ran out of energy, losing to Bakersfield’s Matt Greer and Marc Johns, the 11th seed, 6-0, 7-6, in the quarterfinals of the community college men’s doubles division Saturday.