The Bonita Vista High School girls tennis team came through with a CIF championship after a 22-year drought by winning the San Diego Section Division III title two years ago.
Last Friday proved time for the school’s boys team to make some history of its own as the top-seeded Barons dispatched seventh-seeded Rancho Buena Vista, 12-6, at the Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma to capture the school’s first CIF championship in boys tennis.
Bonita Vista athletic director Jason Murphy said the team had to overcome adversity this season in order to excel at the highest levels.
First up, he said, refurbished tennis courts at the school played a major role in the team’s success; secondly the team was able to rally behind part-time coaching.
“Finally the kids were able to practice and play their matches on our campus instead of going over to Southwestern College every day,” Murphy explained. “I think it made a huge difference. Also, we didn’t even have a men’s coach this year so our two girls coaches (Karla Bautista and Joe Sheffield) stepped in and divided their time for the boys.
“I am forever grateful for their time and energy they brought. I believe the fact we had our own courts and our boys had to come together with part-time coaching, it made them stronger and allowed them to overcome any adversity they faced this year.”
“The boys were not much different to work with than the girls,” Bautista explained. “Both teams are very competitive and go-getters but at the same time great teammates to one another and very friendly.”
This was territory revisited for Bonita Vista, with closure this time. The Barons had advanced to the Division I finals in 1995 under then coach Ken Faverty but lost, 14-4, to Torrey Pines.
Bonita Vista (11-6) made no mistakes by sweeping through the four-round playoff tournament 22 years later.
The Barons, who finished 4-6 in league play, defeated 16th-seeded San Ysidro in the opening round by a score of 16-2, then knocked out eighth-seeded Southwest El Centro in the quarterfinals by a 12-6 score.
Bonita Vista eliminated fourth-seeded Hilltop, 10-8, in a winner-take-all semifinal match-up on May 4.
“In my five years coaching I had never experienced such an emotional match where the very last set of the game was the determining factor,” Bautista said. “We had been tied the entire match. Both teams played ferociously and with so much passion.”
In the finals, the Barons met an RBV team that had upset No. 2-seeded Otay Ranch in the quarterfinals, 11-7, and No. 6-seeded Granite Hills, 14-4, in the semifinals.
Senior Josh Jugar and junior Nozomu Tateishi helped assure their team would not be another upset victim by sweeping their singles matchups.
Jugar won by scores of 6-0, 6-2, 6-0 while Tateishi won by scores of 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
The doubles team of Eddie Magana and Antonio Villegas won by scores of 6-3, 6-3, while the doubles tandem of Magana and Felix Stobbe won 6-4. The doubles team of Shriraj Jaiswal and Eduardo Rosario also won 6-4, while the doubles team of Jonathan Tacher and Kyle McLellan won 6-4.
The Barons finished 7-2 in singles competition and 5-4 in doubles competition.
RBV, which turned in a 4-4 record in league play, finished the season 10-9 overall in qualifying for its first division final.
Olympic effort falls short for Eagles in defense of CIF title
Olympian defeated Sage Creek, 10-8, to capture last year’s Division III championship. The Eagles moved up to Division II this season and put their ample talent on display once again by reaching last Friday’s championship round.
However, the result was not the same as second-seeded Olympian dropped a 10-8 finals matchup to top-seeded San Marcos (19-2).
The Eagles (8-2 in league, 12-4 overall) finished 5-4 in singles competition and 3-6 in doubles competition.
Marco Alvarez swept his singles matches 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 while Jorge Castaneda pulled through with a 6-2 win and Rodrigo Blanco recorded a 6-0 victory.
The doubles team of Pedro Meneses and Justin Nguyen went undefeated in their three matches 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
Olympian crushed 15th-seeded Valhalla, 18-0, in the first round before nipping seventh-seeded Helix by a 10-8 score in the quarterfinals. The Eagles flew past sixth-seeded Patrick Henry, 13-5, in the semis.
String theory
A total of 10 South County teams qualified for this year’s section playoffs, including seven in the Division III field.
Chula Vista received the No. 3 seed but lost 10-8 to Granite Hills in the quarterfinals while High Tech High Chula Vista received the No. 9 seed and Castle Park received the No. 12 seed.
High Tech lost 11-7 to Southwest El Centro in the opening round while Castle Park was eliminated 15-3 by fifth-seeded San Diego Jewish Academy.
Hilltop defeated its first two opponents to advance to the Division III semifinals: 13th-seeded Christian (15-3 in the first round) and San Diego Jewish Academy (13-5 in the quarterfinals).
Mater Dei Catholic (seeded 11th) joined Olympian in the Division II bracket. The Crusaders lost, 13-5, to sixth-seeded Patrick Henry in the opening round.
Eastlake, last year’s Division I champion, received the No. 3 seed in the Open Division bracket but lost, 11-7, in an upset to sixth-seeded La Jolla in the quarterfinals.
Championship lineup
The section’s girls lacrosse championships are set Saturday, May 13, at San Dieguito Academy. The Division II final starts at noon, followed by the Division I final at 2:30 p.m. and the Open Division final at 5 p.m.
The section’s boys lacrosse championships are set May 20, at San Marcos High School. The Division II final starts at 2:30 p.m., followed by the Division I final at 5 p.m. and the Open Division final at 7:30 p.m.
The section’s boys volleyball championships are scheduled May 19-20 at Montgomery High School.
Two finals will be played on May 19: Division IV at 5 p.m. and Division III at 7 p.m. Three finals will be played on May 20: Division II at 1 p.m., Division I at 3 p.m. and Open Division at 5 p.m.
The boys volleyball playoffs got started with Monday’s play-in round. Serra defeated El Capitan, 3-1, to earn a berth in the Division III field. The Conquistadors prevailed in the highly competitive match by scores of 10-25, 25-20, 25-22, 30-28.
Granite Hills received the No. 12 seed in the Division I bracket while Santana received the No. 7 in the Division II bracket, followed by No. 9 Steele Canyon and No. 11 Grossmont.
The Open Division playoffs are being conducted in a double-elimination format this year.
The section diving championship is set for Friday, May 12, at Mesa College. The combined girls field will start at 10 a.m., followed by the combined boys field at 2 p.m.
The section swimming championships are set Saturday, May 13, at Granite Hills High School. The Division II meet starts at 9 a.m., followed by the Division I meet at 3 p.m.
Play-in games for the section softball playoffs are scheduled Monday, May 15, followed by competition in six divisions starting Tuesday, May 16.
Section championship games are scheduled May 26-27 at UC San Diego.
The section team and individual boys golf championships are scheduled May 16 and May 18, respectively, at the Admiral Baker Golf Course. Division II and Division III teams will start at 7:30 a.m., followed by Division I teams at 1 p.m. on May 16. Individual play will start at 7:30 a.m. on May 18.
All team, individual, compulsory and optional championships in girls gymnastics will be conducted May 19 at La Costa Canyon High School, starting at 12:30 p.m.
The section track and field prelims are scheduled May 20 at Mt. Carmel High School, starting at 9 a.m. for girls events and 2 p.m. for boys events. The section finals follow on May 27 at the same site, with events in the combined field starting at 10 a.m.
Place-finishes will be determined in Division I and Division II fields for team scoring. The top three place-finishers in state-qualifying heats, plus those athletes who meet a predetermined standard, will advance to the state championship meet June 2-3 in Clovis.
The section baseball playoffs are scheduled to start with play-in rounds on May 22. Divisional play starts May 23.
There will be six divisional baseball championship games at two sites.
The University of San Diego will host two finals on June 2: Division III at 3:30 p.m. and Division I at 7 p.m. USD will host two finals on June 3: Division II at 1:30 p.m. and the Open Division at 7 p.m.
UC San Diego will host two division finals on June 3: Division V at noon and Division IV at 3:30 p.m.
