Recently in Tennis Category

Connie Flanderka, who has been at Westlake for 34 years and is the only girls' tennis coach the school has ever known, is celebrating her retirement from teaching with a special ceremony next Monday at 4:30 at the tennis courts, but she will remain as girls' and boys' coach.

Flanderka has won four girls' section championships, 18 girls' league titles, two boys' league titles and a total of seven section final appearances with more than 500 career victories.

Harvard-Westlake runner and soccer standout Cami Chapus was recognized by Cal-Hi Sports as the state's Div. III female athlete of the year, as well as California's junior female athlete of the year.

Campbell Hall tennis star Sabrina Santamaria, a USC signee, was selected the state's Div. IV female athlete of the year.

Simi Valley runner Sarah Baxter was named the state's freshman female athlete of the year.

Harvard-Westlake runner Amy Weissenbach, the Gatorade national girls' track and field athlete of the year, received honorable mention junior class recognition.

Valencia golfer Alison Lee received honorable mention sophomore class accolades.

Oaks Christian's Crystal Owusu, who shined in basketball and track, received Div. IV honorable mention honors.

For the full list of Cal-Hi Sports' female honorees, go to Cal-Hi Sports

Stanford senior Hilary Barte, a Harvard-Westlake graduate, captured the NCAA women's doubles title Monday with Mallory Burdette, defeating Clemson's Josipa Bek and Keri Wong 7-6 (6), 6-0 at Stanford's Taube Stadium.

Barte, who won last year's NCAA doubles championship with Lindsay Burdette, overcame a 6-1 deficit in the first-set tiebreaker with seven consecutive points.

She and the younger Burdette used the momentum to roll in the second set, securing their second victory this season over Bek and Wong, including a 6-3, 6-3 win in the Oct. 10 final of the ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades.

Barte is the first player to repeat as women's doubles champion since Cal's Amy Jensen won three in a row from 1998-2000 and Stanford's first back-to-back winner since Linda Gates in 1984-85.

Ryan Thacher, another Harvard-Westlake graduate, and Bradley Klahn fell 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the men's doubles final to Texas A & M's Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo, their third loss this season against the Aggies' duo.

Klahn and Thacher, who lost 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7) to Virginia's Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz in last year's semifinals, were looking to win Stanford's first men's doubles title since 2004.

Harvard-Westlake graduates Hilary Barte and Ryan Thacher have advanced to their respective doubles finals today for host Stanford in the NCAA tennis tournament.

Barte, a senior, teams up with sophomore Mallory Burdette to take on Clemson's Josipa Bek and Keri Wong. Barte and Burdette defeated Cal's Jana Juricova and Mari Anderson 6-1, 6-4 in Sunday's semifinals at Taube Tennis Center in Palo Alto.

Barte and Burdette defeated Bek and Wong 6-3, 6-3 in the Oct. 10 final of the ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades.

Thacher and fellow junior Bradley Klahn take on Texas A & M's Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo, looking to capture Stanford's first men's doubles title since 2004.

Thacher and Klahn outlasted Florida's Sekou Coker Bangoura and Alexandre Lacroix 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in Sunday's final four, helping erase the disappointment of last year's 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7) semifinal loss to Virginia's Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz.

Dadamo and Krajicek held off Thacher and Klahn 9-8 (8) on May 19 when Stanford defeated Texas A & M 4-2 in the NCAA round of 16.

Conner Calabro, Zoe Katz and Sabrina Santamaria combined to win all nine singles sets for Campbell Hall in a 15-3 Alpha League girls' tennis victory Monday at Brentwood, completing a perfect regular season for the Vikings (13-0, 8-0), the top-ranked team in Southern Section Div. I.

Sarah Lee and Valerie Thong swept in doubles, along with Alexis Pereira and Ava Sadeghi for Campbell Hall, which increased its winning streak to 29 consecutive matches.

The Vikings compete in the league tournament today and Thursday at Brentwood, then await the release of the Div. I playoff draws Monday.

Campbell Hall is looking to become the area's first girls' tennis team to win back-to-back Div. I titles.

Led by defending singles champion Alexandra Tallas, Granada Hills (10-1) begans its bid for a third consecutive City Section girls' tennis title as the top seed in the 12-team championship division.

Play begins Thursday with four first-round matches. Granada Hills, No. 2 Palisades, No. 3 El Camino Real and No. 4 Marshall all received first-round byes and will play host to quarterfinal matches Monday.

In first-round matches Thursday: No. 9 Van Nuys plays at No. 8 Venice, No. 12 Chatsworth plays at No. 5 LACES, No. 11 Verdugo Hills plays at No. 6 Cleveland, and No. 10 Taft is at No. 7 Eagle Rock.

In the 16-team Invitational division, Carson received the top seed, followed by No. 2 Hamilton, No. 3 Bell and No. 4 Narbonne, with Sylmar receiving the highest seed among locals at No. 5.

The championship division final is Wednesday, Nov. 17 at Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, with the Invitational final scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 18.

After after winning all nine girls' singles matches in pool play, the Southern California all-stars lost all three in Wednesday's semifinals against Midwest and the team fell behind 6-0 at the 16-under intersectional team championships at Pierremont Oaks Tennis Club in Shreveport, La.

Westlake High sophomore Sivan Krems, who was 3-0 in singles along with a mixed doubles victory in pool play, didn't play singles against Midwest. Temple City's Ashley Dai, Palm Desert's Desirae Krawczyk and Ojai's Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum all lost, as did University High of Irvine's Reo Asami and Gage Brymer, along with Los Angeles' Alex Scheinman in boys' singles competition.

Krems will play doubles with Dai in the afternoon for Southern California, which lost 6-3 to Midwest in last year's semifinals.

Southern has built a 5-1 lead over Eastern following singles play in the other semifinal, securing a rematch with Midwest in Thursday's championship. Southern, which defeated Eastern 8-1 in last year's semifinals, recorded a 9-0 win over Midwest to capture last year's title.

Westlake High sophomore Sivan Krems won her second consecutive singles match Monday to help the Southern California all-stars record an 8-1 pool-play victory over Intermountain at the 16-under intersectional team championships at Pierremont Oaks Tennis Club in Shreveport, La.

Krems recorded a 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Jennifer Weissmann of Loveland, Colo., to help Southern California sweep its three girls' singles matches for the second day in a row.

Southern California faces fellow unbeaten Florida at 10:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday for a berth in Wednesday's semifinals.

Westlake High sophomore Sivan Krems was victorious in singles and mixed doubles Sunday for the Southern California all-stars in an 8-1 pool-play victory over Southwest at the 16-under intersectional team championships at Pierremont Oaks Tennis Club in Shreveport, La.

Krems recorded a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Rachana Bhat of Tucson, Ariz., in singles, then teamed with Ventura's Brendan McClain to post a 6-0, 6-0 mixed doubles win over Bhat and Phoenix's Nolan Bauer.

Southern California is scheduled to face Intermountain -- an 8-1 loser Sunday to Florida -- at 7:45 a.m. PDT Monday in another pool-play contest.

Thousand Oaks junior Marcos Giron captured his first Southern Section singles title Saturday when Claremont's Clarke Spinosa retired trailing 3-0 in the first set at Seal Beach Tennis Center.

Spinosa outlasted defending champion Clay Thompson of Crossroads of Santa Monica 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the semifinals and began cramping in his legs early in the championship match.

Giron is the first area player to win singles and doubles titles, following back-to-back doubles championships with Denis Lin, now a freshman at Stanford.

He is the first local singles champion since Calabasas' Gary Sacks in 2003 and the first Thousand Oaks player to win the title since Phil Sheng in 1999.