Sea Kings rule CIF Division I

Steve Virgen

Moments after sweeping his third set and clinching Corona del Mar

High’s victory, Garrett Snyder, the boys tennis team’s captain,

offered a few words for Santa Barbara’s loud and menacing fans. In a

sense, Snyder’s short statements was all that was needed Wednesday at

the Claremont Club.

“We got the bling bling,” Snyder said. He also said, “Scoreboard.”

The Sea Kings (24-0) won the CIF Southern Section Division I

championship after a dominating performance in singles and steady

doubles play, leading to a 14-4 victory over Santa Barbara. The CIF

crown is CdM’s third title in the past five years and first

championship in Division I since 1999. CdM now has 10 CIF titles.

Throughout the season, CdM won their dual matches by no less than

a six-point margin.

“We held our cool against Santa Barbara’s fans,” CdM Coach Tim

Mang said. “We really shut them up after the first round. The only

thing they had to root for was their No. 1 doubles team. If they’re

going to just root for their No. 1 doubles team, I’m feeling great

because everyone else is winning.”

Snyder, a senior bound for the University of Texas, swept through

his sets without dropping a game, while sophomores Wesley Miller and

Spencer Reitz also collected three victories in singles.

The Sea Kings built a commanding 5-1 lead after the first round

and took total control in the second round on their way to a 9-3

advantage. Throughout the first round and on several occasions during

the second round, Santa Barbara’s fans, mainly students, shouted

loudly for each point scored by the Dons and heckled at the Sea Kings

after each error. That seemed to only motivate CdM.

“They brought their cheerleaders, but that obviously didn’t stop

us,” Snyder said shortly after his third victorious set over freshman

A.J. Stein. “We haven’t played a team that had fans rude like that.

It’s kind of funny how they all kind of disappeared now. Most of them

are quiet now.”

Snyder went undefeated in his senior season, compiling a 55-0

record while playing in singles or doubles sets in dual matches. He

easily handled his opponents Wednesday with his big serves and strong

overall play.

“I can’t think of a better way to end my Sea King career,” Snyder

said. “This is awesome. I wanted to do whatever I could to help the

team. This was a great team effort. We deserved [the CIF

championship].”

While Snyder, as Mang put it, “did his job,” Miller and Reitz

completed one of their better efforts of the season, drawing praise

from Mang, while surprising Santa Barbara Coach Aaron Webster.

“Garrett was the one guy I have never had to worry about,” Mang

said. “[Miller and Reitz] were fantastic. I was expecting two points

out of each of them and they got three each. They saved the best for

last.”

Webster said he was surprised to see that Mang put sophomore

standout Carsten Ball in doubles play, which has actually happened

throughout the CIF playoffs.

“When I saw Ball in doubles,” Webster said. “I thought they were

playing into our hands. But [Reitz and Miller] really stepped up.

What can I say? They just outplayed us.”

Webster said a group of students missed the day of school to

travel with the Dons and cheer for them. The loud support helped

Santa Barbara in its 11-7 victory over Los Alamitos last week,

Webster said, but the fans were silenced against CdM.

Ball teamed up with junior Brennan Roberts in doubles. They

collected two points for the Sea Kings, as did the CdM tandem of

seniors Bryan Warsaw and Issei Saida. Ball and Roberts overcame a 4-2

deficit against the Dons’ No. 3 doubles team of Rob Cowell and Ethan

Witt.

CdM sophomores Alex Nguyen and Nicholas Gingold, playing No. 1

doubles, contributed one point with a 6-1 victory over Cowell and

Witt.

“Carsten is good enough in that everyone brings their game up

because he’s there,” Mang aid. “Without Carsten, everyone is a little

bit shaky. We needed him [in doubles]. Obviously, we didn’t need him

in singles.”

Warsaw and Saida played with great emotion throughout the match,

clearly expressing that this would be their last match in their prep

careers.

“It’s a good feeling to end like this,” Warsaw said.

“We lost in the [CIF Division V] semifinals last year,” Saida

said. “That started it up for all of us to come back stronger.”

The No. 1 doubles team of Chase Muller and Kerry Wheeler swept

their sets for Santa Barbara (20-4), which went for a bit of a

surprise attack in singles.

Sophomore Blake Muller, who had been slated to be the Dons’ No. 1

singles player this season, made his first appearance since the first

match of the season. He missed most of the year because of a lower

back injury, but he told Webster he wanted to play Wednesday morning.

However, Blake Muller said he still felt pain during his two sets. He

said he played in an attempt to lift his teammates’ spirits.

Miller defeated Blake Muller, 6-1, then Snyder shutout the Santa

Barbara sophomore, 6-0. Webster then put Sean Ferguson in as a

substitution and he lost to Reitz, 3-6.

“Every single guy on the team did the most I can ask of them,”

Mang said.

*--*

CIF Southern Section Division I

Championship CdM 14, Santa Barbara 4

Singles -- Snyder (CdM) def. Robertson, 6-0, def. B. Muller, 6-0, def. Stein, 6-0; Miller (CdM) won, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1; Reitz (CdM) won, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles -- Gingold-Nguyen (CdM) lost to C. Muller-Wheeler, 1-6, lost to Huffard-Victorson, 3-6, def. Cowell-Witt, 6-1; Ball-Roberts (CdM) lost, 6-2, won, 6-2, 6-4; Warsaw-Saida (CdM) lost, 3-6, won, 6-4, 6-2

*--*