Ojai tennis program 2014

The Ojai official 2014 event program2

www.ojaiwinefestival.com

The Ojai official 2014 event program 3

elcome to the 114th OjaiTennis Tournament.Again this year we are

excited about the level ofcompetition and the ever-expanding tournament.Basically, the tournament isthe same now as it has beenfor the past 100 years, with theexception of ever-changingmodern updates that keep theevent fresh and exciting.

The level of play in theOpen Division has increaseddramatically in recent yearsand will be at an even higherlevel due to perks that bring onhigh-quality players.

The Pac-12 men’s change offormat to team play has addeda higher spirit of competitionamong the schools and willagain be one of active andvocal play.

Pac-12 women’shas always beenhard-hitting and ajoy to watch.

The big changethat occurred lastyear and willcontinue this yearis the addition ofthe Californiamen’s andwomen’s statechampionships.That means schools from bothSouthern and NorthernCalifornia will compete in finalmatches to determine the stateteam championship. This willbe in addition to play later inthe week to determine the Ojaiindividual community collegechampions.

As we work on downthrough Independent Colleges,

Boys’ and Girls’ 18-16-14 and under,there will be playsure to amaze you.

All of us, ouractive staff of 40,some 500volunteers and theentire communityof the Ojai Valley,welcome you to theoldest and largestamateur tennis

tournament held in the samelocation in the U.S.

In 2009, Ojai was voted thesecond best tennis town in theU.S. which, considering thesmall size of our little valley, issome feat.

On a personal note, I havebeen asked from time to timehow long I have beenassociated with The Ojai. In

the 1940s, all junior boys andgirls were housed in privatehomes in the Valley. Myparents had a home just twoblocks from the main courts indowntown Ojai and alwaysopened their home to players.I would move out of mybedroom, that had twin beds,to the shed next to the chickenpen for the duration of thetournament. That’s just theway we did it in those days. In1957 I was asked to be a part ofthe management team, and afew years later, Jan, my wife,joined me and we have beenactive ever since. I served aspresident from 1998 to 2000when we celebrated our 100thyear. And this year, 2014, Iwholeheartedly welcome youto enjoy The Ojai’s 114th year!

President Alan Rains

Alan Rains

As always, there is plenty to be excited about

Ojai Valley Tennis ClubTOURNAMENT OFFICIALSOpen Tournament Director: -----------------Anne WilliamsonPac-12 Tournament Director: ----------------------Jeff JenkinsColleges Tournament Director: --------------------Terry LynchJunior Tournament Director: -----------------------Craig FuglePlayer Activities Liaison:-------------------------------Mark WeilI.T.A. Referee/Chief of Umpires: -------------Jane GoodmanPac-12 Women’s Referee: -------------------Joan VormbaumOpen Referee:---------------------------------------Annette BuckMen’s Division III Referee: ---------------------David MartinezJunior Referee:------------------------------------David Martinez

TENNIS CLUB OFFICIALSPresident: ------------------------------------------------Alan RainsVice President: --------------------------------------Mike BordersSecretary:-----------------------------------------Robin NeumannTreasurer: -------------------------------------------Mandi Roberts

YOUTH TENNIS PROGRAMSChair: ------------------------------------------------------Jakob VosVice Chair: ----------------------------------------------Craig FugleVCJTA Liaison: ----------------------------------------Terry LynchPolicy Board: ----------------------------------------Tony Thacher

TOURNAMENT COMMITTEESExecutive Director:---------------------------Duane WilliamsonAdministration: --------------------------------Sandy McElwaineDirectory & Draw Sheets: ---------------------Cynthia DuncanLibbey Tournament Desk: -------------------------------Jan KeyLibbey Tournament Desk: --------------------------Sandi WhiteScore Reporting: --------------------Duane & Rhonda BasoreTournament Scheduling: -----------------------------Tina LeslieVolunteer Coordinator: ------------------------------------Jill CoxVolunteer Coordinator: ---------------------Suzanne St. ClaireCompetition Support: ------------------------Jim Kasser, ChairAccommodations: ------------------------------Anne Williamson

Pac-12 Housing: ----------------------------------Nancy PiersonBall Boys & Girls:-Peter Fagan, Rick Thompson & Brice PaceTrophies & Photos:----------------------------Jan & Alan RainsVolunteer Social: Leslie Gache, Jill Cox & Nikki NeumannLunches: ------------------------------------------Robin NeumannUmpire Coordinator: ----------------------------------Jeff BeckerLibbey Venue Management: -----------John Kretzers, Chair

Vice Chair:------------------------------------------Dennis JenksSecurity:---------------------------------------------David BreeseSecurity Assistant:----------------------------------Terry WrightSafety:------------------------------------------------Tom McCallaBarbecue:-----------------------Mark Weil & George ConradOrange Juice: ---------------------------------------Roy BennettMerchandise Sales: -------------------------------Lori Herman

Tournament Physician:--------------Dr. Kenneth HartensteinLibbey Venue Set up:--------------------Bruce Purvine, Chair

Vice Chair: -------------------------------------Kathleen RogersOjai Courts — Desk Managers: -------------------Mike Burke

Venue Set up:---------------------------------------Gary BelshePrivate Courts: -----------------------------------Carolyn BurkePrivate Courts:------------------------------------Susan KasserPrivate Court Monitors: ------------------Mark Zimmermann

Ventura Area — Venue Management: ----------Lester TongVenue Set up: ------------------------------------Bill FlothmeierMerchandise Sales: --------------Pam Speitel & Kris Etzler

Tickets: -------------------------------------------Brian Ford, ChairMarketing & Promotion: -----------------Steve Pratt, BZA PRChair: ----------------------------------------------------Woody GairVice Chair: -----------------------------------Harry OppenheimerProgram: ----------------------------------------------Vivian PerrettSponsors: ----------------------------------Ronnie Wilson, ChairMedia Relations: -----------------------------------Samuel EatonInfo Technology: ---------------------------------George WaldenTea Tent:------------------------------------Mandi Roberts, ChairVice Chair: --------------------------------------------Anne Kaplan

President’s Message

W

• Pacifica High School: CommunityCollege Men’s Singles & Doubles

• Residence Inn Marriot:Community College Men’s Singles

• Oxnard High School: Junior Events

Depending on venue, play generally startsat 8 or 9 a.m. and continues throughoutthe day. Schedule is subject to changewithout notice.


Tuesday, April 22

Schedule of Events

• Ojai Valley Athletic Club: Men’s andWomen’s Open Singles QualifyingRounds

• Libbey Park: Two Pac-12 Men’sTeam Dual Matches and first roundCIF matches

• Pierpont Racquet Club and VenturaCollege: Men’s and Women'sCalifornia Community College TeamChampionships

Wednesday, April 23

OJAI SITES:• Libbey Park: Two Pac-12 Men’s

Team Dual Matches, Junior Events• Ojai Valley Inn: Open Men’s Singles• Ojai Valley Athletic Club: Pac-12

Women’s Singles, Pac-12 Women’sInvitational Singles

• The Thacher School: Boys’ CIF,Junior Events

• Villanova Preparatory School: JuniorEvents

• Ojai Valley School Upper Campus:Boys’ CIF

• Ojai Valley School Lower Campus:Junior Events

• Nordhoff High School: Junior Events• Matilija Junior High School: Junior

Events• Private Courts: Junior Events

VENTURA SITES:• Pierpont Racquet Club:

Independent College Women’sSingles & Doubles

• Ventura College: CommunityCollege Women’s Singles & Doubles,Independent College Women’sSingles & Doubles

• Camino Real Park: CommunityCollege Women’s Singles & Doubles

• Buena High School: CommunityCollege Women’s Singles & Doubles

OXNARD SITES:• Oxnard Tennis Center:Community

College Men’s Singles & Doubles

Thursday, April 24

OJAI SITES:• Libbey Park: Two Pac-12 Men’s

Team Dual Matches, Junior Events• Ojai Valley Inn: Open Men’s

Singles & Doubles, Open Women’sSingles

• Ojai Valley Athletic Club: Pac-12 Women’s Singles & Doubles,Pac-12 Women’s Invitational Singles& Doubles

• The Thacher School: Boys’ CIF,Junior Events

• Villanova Preparatory School: JuniorEvents

• Nordhoff High School: Junior Events

VENTURA SITES:• Pierpont Racquet Club:

Independent College Men’s Singles& Doubles

• Ventura College: CommunityCollege Women’s Singles & Doubles,Independent College Women’sSingles & Doubles

• Camino Real Park: CommunityCollege Women’s Singles & Doubles

• Buena High School: Division IIICollege Men's Singles and Doubles

OXNARD SITES:• Oxnard Tennis Center:Community

College Men’s Singles & Doubles,Division III College Men’s Singles &Doubles

• Pacifica High School: CommunityCollege Men’s Singles & Doubles

• Residence Inn Marriot:Community College Men’s Singles &Doubles

ALL EVENTS IN OJAI:• Libbey Park: Pac-12 Men’s TeamFinal Dual Match, Pac-12 Women’sChampionship & Invitational Singles& Doubles Semifinals, All JuniorEvent and Boys’ CIF Finals

• Lower Libbey Park: Selected JuniorEvent Semifinals

• Ojai Valley Inn: Open Men’s Singles

Semifinals, Open Men’s DoublesQuarterfinals and Semifinals, OpenWomen’s Singles Semifinals, OpenWomen’s Doubles Quarterfinals andSemifinals

• Ojai Valley Athletic Club:Independent College Men’s Singlesand Doubles, Independent CollegeWomen’s Singles and Doubles,Community College Men’s Singlesand Doubles, Community CollegeWomen’s Singles and Doubles

• The Thacher School: Division IIICollege Men’s Singles & Doubles

• Villanova Preparatory School:Selected Junior Event Semifinals

• Libbey Park: (all matches areFinals, unless otherwise indicated; allstarting times are approximate)

8 a.m.Pac-12 Women’s Invitational SinglesDivision III College Men’s SinglesSemifinals (2)Community College Men’s DoublesSemifinals (2) – Lower LibbeyCommunity College Women’sDoubles Semifinals (2) – LowerLibbey

9:30 a.m.Open Women’s SinglesPac-12 Women’s ChampionshipSinglesIndependent College Men’s SinglesIndependent College Women’sSingles

11 a.m.Open Men’s SinglesPac-12 Women’s InvitationalDoublesDivision III College Men’s SinglesCommunity College Men’s Singles

12:30 p.m.Open Women’s DoublesPac-12 Women’s ChampionshipDoublesIndependent College Women’sDoublesCommunity College Women’sSingles

2 p.m.Open Men’s DoublesDivision III College Men’s DoublesIndependent College Men’s DoublesCommunity College Men’s Doubles

3:30 p.m.Community College Women’sDoubles

Friday, April 25

Saturday, April 26

Sunday, April 27


www.scta.usta.com


Tournament SanctioningOrganizations

• Pac-12 Conference: pac-12.com• CIF – Southern Section: cifss.org• USTA / Southern California

Section: SCTA.usta.com

• City of Ojai – Libbey Park• Ojai Valley Inn & Spa• Ojai Valley Athletic Club• Villanova Preparatory School• The Thacher School• Nordhoff High School• Matilija Junior High School• City of Ventura – Camino Real

Park• The Ojai Valley School• Ventura College• Pierpont Racquet Club• Pacifica High School• Residence Inn Marriott• Buena High School• Oxnard Tennis Center (Tennis

McAdemy)• Oxnard High School

Venues• Mike Taggart• Ventura Rentals: (805) 644-4496;

venturarental.com• Wilson: The official ball for The Ojai;

wilson.com/en-us/tennis• City of Ojai: ci.ojai.ca.us• Rock-It Cargo USA, LLC:

rockitcargo.com• Chobani Greek Yogurt:

chobani.com• Plexipave Sport Surfacing: Official

Surfacing for The Ojai:plexipave.com

• Deer Lodge:deerlodgeojai.com

• Capri Hotel:hotelojai.com

• Hummingbird Inn:hummingbirdinnojai.com

• Valerie & Alan Greenberg• Barry Golden• Solinco: Official stringer for The Ojai

at Libbey Park: solincosports.com• Tom Rohrbacher Stringer at Ojai

Valley Inn: (805) 640-2109• Ojai Valley Inn & Spa:

ojairesort.com• Ojai Valley Athletic Club:

ovac.caclubs.com• Life Line Medical Transport:

lifelineems.net

• Coast Mayflower: (805) 646-1234• E.J. Harrison & Sons:

ejharrison.com• Ojai Valley Directory:

ojaivalleydirectory.com• Mission Linen Supply:

missionlinen.com• Harris Water Conditioning:

harriswaterco.com• Tennis Warehouse

tenniswarehouse.com• Dunn-Edwards Paints:

dunnedwards.com• Adamson’s Automotive Repair &

Towing: (805) 646-4494• Friend’s Ranches, Inc.:

friendsranches.com• Forbess Consulting Group:

fcgenviro.com• George and Colleen Conrad• Ojai Donut Shoppe: (805) 646-1429• Ojai Hospitality Group Inc.:

ojainow.com• Ojai Pixie Tangerine Growers Assoc.

ojaipixies.com• Ojai Valley Lions Club:

ojaivalleylions club.com• The Ranch House Restaurant:

theranchhouse.com• Suzanne’s Cuisine:

suzannescuisine.com

Tournament Sponsors

The followingorganizations andindividuals donated to theimprovement of tenniscourts at Buena HighSchool and Camino RealPark in Ventura toaccommodate the increasein competitors during theCCCAA statechampionships for thecommunity colleges:

ACE $2,500+ Ventura Lodging

Association, United StatesTennis Association, OjaiValley Tennis Club, BryanBrothers Foundation,Hammer-HewsonAssociates, Limoneira,Ventura Downtown LionsClubOverhead Smash $1,000+E.J. Harrison & Sons,Pierpont Racquet Club,Kaiser PermanenteVolley $500+Play It Again Sports, John

Resurfacing SponsorsBrandt, Paul SchusterForehand $250+Ed & Val Wehan, Tony andAnne Thacher, Ed and TerryLynch, Harry and AnneOppenheimer, Richard,Ann and LayneGallimore, David Loe,Wayne and Bo BruceBackhand $100+Jenise Wagar, Gregand Lori Frank,Kent Bodin, GaryReeder, Stephan

Beluris, Debra Jordan,Joann Cunningham, AllenLevesque, Caroline andSteve Doll

Individual and Corporate

About the coverCan you image a singles matchup

between 1913 Thacher High studentAmos Wilder (at left) and three-time OjaiBoys’ CIF champion Gage Brymer (atright)?

The Ojai has always celebrated itspast, but just as important is its present,

and its future. This year, Brymer leads apowerhouse UCLA squad that looks todefend the Pac-12 title they won last yearover crosstown rival USC.

The Pac-12 coverage begins on Page 8with a feature on former Stanford CoachDick Gould and continues with men’s

(Pages 12-15) and women’s previews(Pages 17-19).

Once again this year, Heather Farleyand her Nordhoff High School advancemedia and graphics arts class designedthe program cover, as well as the logosused on all the merchandise.


Understated Sophistication & Privacy

Nestled in the Foothills of Ojai

www.donnasallen.com

hen Ojai Tennis Tournamentorganizers were kicking aroundnames and ideas of whom they

wanted to honor at this year’sThursday night Welcome ReceptionBarbecue, names of past Ojai greatslike Jimmy Connors, Michael Changand Lindsay Davenport were broughtup.

But just like last year’s honoree,Tracy Austin, the committee wantedsomeone who had a true affinity forthe tournament – someone who foryears and years had a connection to

the event. Mark Weil was the first tocontact Stanford University coachinglegend Dick Gould who happily agreedto be Ojai’s honored guest for the114th annual event.

A Ventura native, Gould has beenassociated with The Ojai for more than50 years, as a player, coach and latera broadcaster for Fox Sports Network.

He first entered the tournament as astudent at Ventura Junior High in1950, played the next two years andthen represented Ventura High from1953-55.

As a player for Stanford, Gould saidtwo of his biggest losses came at TheOjai, “and on the same freaking court.”

As a junior, Gould led USC All-American Ed Atkinson 5-3, 40-love inthe third and deciding set, only to“choke it away.” A year later, Gouldwas a service point away from victoryagainst UCLA No. 1 Norman Perry,leading 5-2, 40-15 in the third. Butonce again, Gould couldn’t close thedoor.

“I played No. 6 my first year andNo. 3 my senior year and I was behind

Stanford University tennis coach Dick Gould (right), talks with NickSaviano, one of his players during his early years as a coach.

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those guys. I never played year-roundbecause I was working during thesummer teaching tennis andswimming for the Rec Department.Those guys played year-round. I wasjust about the point where I hadcaught up to them.”

The losses taught Gould a valuablelesson to never look too far ahead. “Istarted thinking one more point thenthis happens and that happens. Itdoesn’t work that way,” he said.

Gould says he doesn’t regretholding his star player John McEnroeout of Ojai the one year he spentplaying for Stanford in 1978. Thesummer before, McEnroe made thesemifinals at Wimbledon. “He washere one year and he had a chance toplay the Alan King Classic in LasVegas,” Gould said. “I would havebeen crazy to not let him do it.Personally I was sorry he wasn’tthere.”

Gould said he would rather see thePac-12 men’s conference play anindividual format, instead of thecurrent team format. “It was always agreat time of year to back off and it’sreally the last competition until theNCAAs so it would give someonedepending on their position a chanceto knock off a player they might notnormally get to play,” Gould explained.“It might help them get into the NCAAtournament with that win. I felt it was agreat change of pace at a great timeof year.

“I love the individual tournamentand I think it’s great for the players,but the team format is also veryexciting, especially for the fans.”

While he wasn’t able to bringMcEnroe along, Gould treasured thedays when players like ScottHumphries, Paul Goldstein and RyanWolters would arrive in Ojai for thefirst time. “We get in the car and wehave a five-and-a-half-hour drive andthen it gets dark and we’re in themiddle of nowhere,” Gould said. “Thenwe get to the courts in the morningand there’s a lot of people around andeveryone’s busy and getting theirorange juice and they really startgetting into it.”

And then there are the SoCal kids

like the Bryan twins, Ryan Thacherand Bradley Klahn who wouldreminisce with their coach about theirglory days playing the juniors at Ojai.“That’s the beauty of Ojai,” Gould said.

“It’s the one tournament where youhave juniors, college and even out ofcollege. It’s just a wonderful mix andyou don’t see that at any othertournament.”

Gould (left) on the sidelines with a young John McEnroe.

In 1985, Anson Thacher (from left) presented the Stanford team trophy to ErikRosenfeld, coach Dick Gould and Dan Goldie, a soon‐to‐be NCAA singles champ andWimbledon quarterfinalist.

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UCLA’s Clay Thompson led the opening match cheer last year.

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Former foes now on the same team

Pac-12 Men

ne of the great things about TheOjai is following the youngSouthern California junior boys

players through the ranks, and thenthrough the CIF InterscholasticDivision before they land on a Pac-12roster. Often there are another fewyears to watch these rising starscontinue on in the pro ranks, muchlike Mike and Bob Bryan andBradley Klahn.

Five years ago, Marcos Giron, ofThousand Oaks High School,beat Clay Thompson, fromCrossroads School, to win the CIFDivision. This year, the two are lookingto lead UCLA to a repeatperformance as Pac-12 champions asCoach Billy Martin’s squad isonce again loaded.

Thompson was the surprise of the Continued on page 14

O fall season. Starting the year rankedNo. 72 in the ITA rankings, Thompsonwon the USTA/ITA National IndoorIntercollegiate Championships inFlushing, N.Y. in early Novemberwinning five-straight matches tobecome just the second UCLA playerto win that title (joining back-to-backchampion Benjamin Kohlloeffel in2005 and 2006).

With the victory, Thompson, fromVenice, became the first UCLA men’stennis player to attain the nation’s No.1 singles ranking since Kohlloeffel in2006. Kohlloeffel achieved the No. 1ranking after winning the NCAASingles Championship that year.

Thompson is coming off a fallseason in which he posted animpressive 18-1 overall record. Hisonly loss came in the first round ofSeptember’s ITA Men’s All-American

Championships in Tulsa, Okla., anevent where he went on to win theconsolation singles title. Thompsonfollowed that with a victory at hishome tournament, claiming the crownat the Southern CaliforniaIntercollegiate Championships atUCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The junior Giron has been rightbehind Thompson, playing No. 2 andholding down a top-five nationalranking. The two are followed in thelineup by three upstart freshmen fromCalifornia, who have all played at TheOjai, two with huge success just lastyear.

Bruin freshman MackenzieMcDonald captured the 2013 Men’s

The Ojai official 2014 event programThe Ojai official 2014 event program 13

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Open singles title and teammateGage Brymer won his third straightCIF Boys’ Division title. Anotherfreshman, Joseph Di Giulio, isabout as good a No. 6 as you’ll find inanywhere in the country.

USC, however, drew first blood inthe first meeting between the twocross-town rivals this year as the No.3 Trojans beat the No. 2 Bruins, 4-3,in the semifinals of the National TeamIndoors in Houston in February.

The match was ultimately decidedat the No. 2 spot, where 16th-rankedYannick Hanfmann upset fifth-ranked Giron in three sets. Just oneweek later, the Bruins returned thefavor downing the Trojans, 5-2, in anon-conference match.

This year, USC is led byFontana’s Ray Sarmiento at No.1 singles. He’s followed in the lineup

by Hanfmann, Roberto Quiroz,Connor Farren, Max DeVroome, Michael Grant and EricJohnson.

Here is a quick look at the other sixteams who will battle it out for theconference team title.

ArizonaHead Coach Tad Berkowitz

may have his No. 1 player in FredrikAsk but there’s no question who thetrue leader of the Wildcats is. Thatwould be fourth-year senior captainKieren Thompson, who has playeda strong No. 2 and 3 for Arizona thisseason.

Born and raised in Brisbane,Australia, Thompson started hisathletic career on the soccer field, onlyuntil the day his father decided to builda tennis court in the backyard.Sumeet Shinde, Naoki Takeda,Mario Urquidi, Matt Dunn andCarlos Bermudez are the others

Berkowitz will rely on if the team is topull off an upset or two.

CaliforniaThe Golden Bears got off to a quick

6-0 start to begin the year, but then fellto No. 1 Virginia and to No. 10Texas in Houston at the ITA IndoorNational Championship. BenMcLachlan returns as Cal’s topplayer for Coach Peter Wright’ssquad. Campbell Johnson, FilipBergevi, Andre Goransson,Gregory Bayane and MadsEngsted are the other top Calplayers.

OregonOjai fans, watch out for the Ducks.

Led by senior Robin Cambier(Brussels, Belgium) Oregon got off toa solid 11-1 start on the seasoncollecting shutouts in seven of its eightwins this season. Cambier was namedPac-12 Player of the Week twice in

The UCLA men’s team, which won the Pac‐12 team trophy last year, is expectd to have another strong showing in 2014.

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Pac-12 Men

From page 12

USC’s top player is Ray Sarmiento, seen here in last year’s action at The Ojai.

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four weeks to start the season and hepassed Sven Swinnen for all-timesingles wins for the program.

Following Cambier in the lineup areDaan Maasland, Kevin Farin,Daniel Sardu, Jayson Amos andBrent Chin.

StanfordJohn Morrissey missed two

early-season matches for theCardinals, but he had a good excuserepresenting Ireland in Davis Cupcompetition. In his absence, AnthonyTsodikov and MaciekRomanowicz have played well.Morrissey and Romanowicz alreadyhave a significant doubles title inVentura County to their credit this yearas the pair teamed up to win theSherwood Cup in Thousand Oaks toopen the spring season. The pair beatteammates Jamin Ball and TreyStrobel in an all-Cardinal semifinal.

UtahThe Utes started the season with a

national ranking of No. 75, the sameranking Utah ended with last season,marking the first time since 2010 thatUtah started the season nationallyranked. New to the roster this year arefreshmen Patrick Mayer ofViernheim, Germany, and DavidPapis-Elon (Israel) as well assophomore Matt Cowley, whoreturns to the squad after serving anLDS mission. Top players include BenTasevac, Alejandro Medinilla,Cedric Willems, Devin Lane andPatrick Mayer.

WashingtonMax Manthou anchors a solid

Huskies lineup coached by formerUSC player Matt Anger. GalHakak, Emmett Egger, JeffHawke (Palos Verdes), ViktorFarkas, Daffra Sanon andMichael Chamerski have allcontributed to getting Washingtoninside the Top 50 nationally as a teamin 2014.

Pac-12 Men


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Rivalriesarelikely tocontinue

Desirae Krawczyk will lead the ASU women’s contingent this year.

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Pac-12 Women

ac-12 women’s college tenniscontinues this year at the 114thOjai as 11 of the conference’s 12

programs will rally over four separatecompetitions – the Pac-12 Women’sSingles & Doubles Championshipsand the Pac-12 Singles & DoublesInvitationals. The singles divisions arelaid out over two 32-player bracketswhile the doubles divisions feature 16teams each.

The Ojai’s championship figures tobe mostly contested among the fourCalifornia schools, further fueling thefun, yet intense UCLA-USC and Cal-Stanford rivalries. Below is a briefoverview of each Pac-12 women’sentry in The Ojai.

ArizonaSeniors Akilah James and

Lacey Smith, from Oceanside, areranked Nos. 110 and 114, respectively,in the Intercollegiate TennisAssociation’s (ITA’s) preseason NCAADivision I women’s singles rankings.

Arizona StateSophomores Stephanie Vlad

and Desirae Krawczyk, from PalmDesert, lead the Sun Devils’

Continued on page 18

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contingent as they are ranked Nos. 50and 91, respectively, in the ITApreseason singles rankings. Ojai fansmay recall that as a junior player in2011, Krawczyk entered the Women’sOpen Doubles at The Ojai and wonthe title.

CaliforniaThe Golden Bears, ranked No. 8 in

the country at the start of thecollegiate season, sport four of the top31 singles players in the ITApreseason national rankings, led byfreshman Denise Starr (No. 15),Hungarian Zsofi Susanyi (No. 16),Estonian Anett Schutting (No. 26),a semifinalist in last year’s Pac-12Women’s Championship singlesdivision at The Ojai, and freshmanMaegan Manasse, of RedondoBeach. Cal placed a doubles team inthe Women’s Doubles Invitational final

at the 2013 Ojai.

ColoradoThe Buffaloes’ international flavor

includes five foreign players – WindeJanssens (Belgium) and CarlaManzi Tenorio (Colombia),Julyette Steur (The Netherlands),Dhany Quevedo (Venezuela) andNuria Ormeno Ruiz (Spain).

OregonThe Ducks are undergoing a

rebuilding effort with a young squadled by juniors Nicole Long,Jasmine Minor, a transfer fromGeorgia Tech, and Sofia Hager,(Sweden). Lana Buttner, (France),may also figure into the Ducks’ plansat The Ojai.

StanfordThe Cardinals entered the collegiate

season as the No. 1 women’s team inthe nation, boasting four players in theITA preseason rankings’ top 41 –

Kristie Ahn (No. 6), CarolineDoyle (No. 34), Carol Zhao (No.40) and Taylor Davidson (No. 41).Ahn lost in the semifinals to eventualchampion Kyle McPhillips, ofUCLA, in last year’s women’schampionship while sophomore KristaHardebeck lost in the final. EllenTsay (preseason ranking of No. 94)reached last year’s Pac-12 Women’sInvitational singles final at The Ojai,losing in three sets.

UCLAThe Bruins, ranked No. 5 in the

nation entering the NCAA season,may be considered the slight favoriteto lift the most Ojai titles through thisyear’s Pac-12 women’s events. KyleMcPhillips coasted to a 6-1, 6-0final’s victory to win last year’s Pac-12Women’s Singles Championship as afreshman. Yet, junior RobinAnderson entered the season asNCAA Division I’s top-ranked women’ssingles player by the ITA rankings,closely followed by junior Chanelle

Pac-12 Women

From page 17

Donations Center: 370 Baldwin Road, Ojai (805) 649-8750Wednesday – Saturday, 9 AM – 3 PM

All proceeds benefit the manyprograms of HELP of Ojai.

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Pac-12 WomenVan Nguyen (No. 9) and freshmanJennifer Brady (No. 24). SeniorCourtney Dolehide will be backwith a new partner in aiming to returnto the Pac-12 Women’s DoublesChampionship final for the secondconsecutive year, though Andersonand Brady were the ITA’s top-rankeddoubles team at the beginning of theseason.

USCThe Trojans, the nation’s preseason

No. 6 team, will be up to challengetheir crosstown and NorthernCalifornia rivals in each Pac-12 eventat The Ojai. USC returns The Ojai’sdefending Pac-12 Women’s SinglesInvitational champion, KaitlynChristian, who also won The Ojai’s2013 Pac-12 Women’s DoublesChampionship with SabrinaSantamaria, who was ranked No.13 in the ITA’s individual preseasonrankings. USC is backed by qualitydepth in junior Giuliana Olmos (No.60 in the ITA rankings), freshmanGabriella DeSimone (No. 80) andsenior Brynn Boren (No. 96). TheITA rated Boren and Zoe Katz asNCAA Division I’s No. 3 doubles duo,and Olmos and Zoe Scandalis No.7, entering the year.

UtahAnother team coming into The Ojai

with nothing to lose and plenty ofquality experience to gain, this Utesteam is spearheaded by seniorsLucia Kovarcikova, (Slovakia) andPaige Miles.

WashingtonThe Huskies captured last year’s

Pac-12 Women’s Doubles Invitationaland return the championship team ofNatali Coronel, (Argentina), andGrace Sari Ysidora, (Indonesia).The program carries three SouthernCalifornians, including Ojai nativeRiko Shimizu, San Clemente’sSophia Bott and Palos Verdes’Brianna Kemp.

Washington StateThe Cougars feature the

conference’s most international roster– only one American. Their topreturners are juniors ElizavetaLuzina, (Russia) and CharlotteKoning, (The Netherlands).

USC’s Kaitlyn Christian and SabrinaSantamaria The Ojai’s 2013 Pac-12

Women’s Doubles Championship

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www.floragardens.net


emember the name TaylorFritz. There is no telling howdeep in the draw the 16-year-old

sophomore will get this week in theMen’s Open singles division at TheOjai. If family pedigree has anythingdo with it though, the name will be oneOjai fans could be seeing for years tocome.

The Fritz family, from Rancho SantaFe, already has a rich history andconnection to The Ojai. Father, Guy,made the Independent CollegeDoubles final way back in 1972, and

he later coached one of the best juniorcollege men’s team in state history inCollege of the Desert. In 1996,the Coachella Valley communitycollege had both finalists in the men’ssingles, as well as four others in thedoubles final at Ojai.

That same year, Taylor’s mother,Kathy May Fritz, won the Women’sOpen division at Ojai. The formerWimbledon quarterfinalist got to ashigh as No. 8 in the world during herpro career. A year later in 1997, Taylorwas born and has been deemed a

prodigy ever since he begancompeting in national tournaments at10.

“Yeah, 1996 was a pretty great yearfor our family at Ojai,” said Guy. “I justlove Ojai. It’s always been one of myfavorite tournaments.”

Last year, the family trekked to Ojaito watch Taylor get all the way to thefinal in the Boys’ InterscholasticDivision where he lost to three-timechampion Gage Brymer.

Taylor began playing professionalITF events in Oklahoma, Texas,

University High’s Gage Brymer (left) topped Taylor Fritz in theBoys’ CIF Division in 2013, but Fritz is expected to have a strongshowing this year in the Men’s Open Division

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Men’s Open honors could be on the FritzR

Open Division

Gage Brymer Taylor Fritz


Open Division

Florida and Costa Rica to start theyear and has already earned his firstATP points.

Because of all the travel, he wasforced to drop out of traditional highschool, and now attends LaurelSprings Online School, which justhappens to be based in Ojai.

Guy said Taylor was expected toplay several junior ITF events thisspring.

“The goal is to do well in thoseevents and qualify for the juniors atthe French Open and Wimbledon,”said Guy, adding that Taylor currentlystands at No. 70 with his ITF juniorranking.

But because he is no longer playingfor his high school, he is only eligiblefor the Men’s Open event this year.“The Ojai offers us good players andthat’s what we’re looking for.”

Guy relayed a funny story from hisbig year at Ojai in 1972 where he wasteamed with Aussie Andrew Caeplaying for the University of SanDiego. “We made the finals indoubles and he sat around and drankall that free orange juice and got sick,”Fritz said. “True story. We ended uplosing to Cripe and Jablonski fromUC Irvine.”

If a teenager like Fritz happens towin the Open division, it would be thesecond straight year as 18-year-oldMackenzie McDonald beatLester Cook in last year’s final.Both Brymer and McDonald are nowfreshman at UCLA.

Ojai fans who saw McDonald playfor the first time in April, saw himagain on a much bigger stage duringthe summer as he became the firstunranked teenager to qualify for anATP Masters event, beating formerOjai Pac-12 champion SteveJohnson, no less, to earn a berthinto the main draw at the Western &Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The win followed an equallyimpressive straight-sets victory over77th-ranked Nicolas Mahut the daybefore.

“We made the finals in doubles and he

sat around and drank all that free orange

juice and got sick,” Fritz said. “True story.

We ended up losing to Cripe and

Jablonski from UC Irvine.”

Mackenzie McDonald, (left) now a freshman at UCLA, defeated Lester Cook last year.

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cFadden


Once again this year, The Ojai Men’s and Women’s Open division

is being generously supported by the $20,000 prize-money donation from Mike Taggart.

Each year, the divisionsget stronger and stronger

and the 2014 edition will be no different.The Ojai salutes Mike

Taggart for his years of workand generous support of

The Ojai Tennis Tournament

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“Way back when, before the Pac-12became a big thing at the

tournament, people came to Ojai to watch the Open, people came to

watch the famous players that you’ll see along the

Wall of Fame along Court 1. They play a brand of tennis that is

very exciting. I wanted to rescue theOpen because it was drying up.”

---Mike Taggart

Thank You Mike Taggart!

Mike Taggart


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Community College State Championships

ack by popular demand, andbecause of its rousing success atits new host site in 2013, the

men’s and women’s CaliforniaCommunity College AthleticAssociation Championships (CCCAA)return to The Ojai for the secondconsecutive year.

This week’s 114th Ojai tournamentwill host the men’s and women’sCCCAA Dual Team championshipsWednesday, April 23, followed by theCCCAA men’s and women’s individualsingles and doubles championshipsThursday, April 24 through Sunday,April 27.

The CCCAA Championshipsrepresent a true State championshipas all CCCAA tournaments at The Ojaiare open to qualification from all 84community/junior colleges in Californiathat field men’s and women’s tennisprograms.

CCCAA individual tournamentformats will be the same as last year’sOjai, as the men’s and women’ssingles and doubles events will beplayed out over a bracket with 128entries. Tournament seeds are chosenby the coaches leading into the Ojai.

Fresno City’s men’s teamcompleted a perfect 19-0 season,extended its win streak to 40, and wonits second consecutive CCCAA teamtitle last year by downing SouthernCalifornia regional championVentura College, 5-1.

Fresno City returns three playersfeatured in that championship match –Scott Gray, Adrian Varenne and AlecBessinger. This trio figures to be in themix to contend in the CCCAAIndividual singles or doublestournaments as well.

Battle-hardened upstart FullertonCollege defeated the top-seededand third-seeded teams to advanceout of the Southern California bracketas a No. 4 seed, then took downNorthern California RegionalChampion Sierra College, 5-4, lastyear to win its first women’s CCCAAteam championship. Sierra Collegewon the Northern California regionand finished as state runner-up from2011-13.

Fullerton returns three of its topfour singles players from that title

match, including Jasmine Catolico,Cailin Mitchell and No. 1 player SarahAnderson.

Anderson won the CCCAAIndividual doubles crown last year butfell in the CCCAA Individual singlesfinal. She has her sights set onbringing home both individualtournament honors this year.

Santa Monica College’s KaoriTsuda reached the CCCAA Individualdoubles final at last year’s Ojai and isback in town. She was a 2013 ITA All-American and was ranked by the ITAas the No. 2 player among SouthernCalifornia community colleges enteringthe season, and she could team withMary Ashmore in an attempt at areturn trip to the CCCAA doubles finalat The Ojai.

Other women ranked in the ITA’spreseason top 10 in SouthernCalifornia who could be a force in theCCCAA Individual singleschampionship are CerritosCollege’s Samantha Judan,

Estefania Flores and Rianne Llagan;Orange Coast College’s HaliDickson and Nikki Thornburg;Ventura College’s Zionne Lee andYannick Garcia; and Riverside CityCollege’s Sheila James and BriannaBowers.

Orange Coast College’swomen are among the best teams thestate has to offer in 2014, and its toptandems of Sydney Farzadkish andNadine Baquiran and Dickson andThornburg come to mind whenscanning the contenders for theCCCAA Individual doubles title at TheOjai. Also in that mix are Riverside’sBowers and Acacia Dettman,Cypress College’s MelissaGahugu and Devan Johnson, ElCamino College’s ShenaeShampine and Donya Assef,Cerritos’ Judan and Flores,Ventura’s Garcia and Lee, and

Strong field expected in college matches

Fullerton Community College earned its first women’s CCCAA team championship lastyear at The Ojai.

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It was with great sadness that one of The Ojai’s great champions passedaway just over a year ago. “Gorgeous” Gussy Moran always loved TheOjai Tennis Tournament and recalled on many occasions when she firstplayed at Libbey Park as a young 13-year-old for Lincoln Junior High inSanta Monica. She wrote in her last years about the pride she felt bringinghome an Ojai banner, that was displayed at her school and of beingrecognized at a special assembly.

In 1949, just two years after winning Ojai, Moran, then 25, hit theworld stage and made international headlines. British dress designer andWimbledon host Ted Tinling designed a skirt that would go above theknees with lace panties. There was controversy, but a star was born andGussy would later turn pro and travel the world playing exhibitions withPancho Segura, Pauline Betz and Jack Kramer.

As one poignant writer noted in her obituary: “Her Wimbledonappearance turned her, overnight, into a celebrity. She was dated bymillionaires, played tennis with Charlie Chaplin, had a ship, a racehorseand a sauce named after her, and even appeared as herself alongsideKatharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in their 1952 tennis comedy PatAnd Mike.”

The staff at www.10sBalls.com honors Gussy Moran and rememberswhat a great Ojai and all-around champion she was.

Gussy Moran’s Ojai Finals Record

Girls’ 14s Singles1938-Louise Brough (Beverly Hills HS) def. Gussy Moran (SantaMonica HS)

Girls’ 14s Doubles1937-Gussy Moran-Peggy Miller (Lincoln Jr. HS) def. RobinBriscoe-Pearl Harland (Santa Monica HS)

Women’s Open Singles1947-Louise Brough def. Gussy Moran

Mixed Doubles1947-Gussy Moran-Tom Chambers def.Eleanor Cushingham-Henry Culley

www.10sBalls.com • www.10sBalls.comw

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“Gorgeous” Gussy Moran1923 – 2013

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10sBalls.comA tennis website with great tennis news, articles

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age Brymer has relinquishedhis dominant, three-year hold onthe CIF Boys’ singles crown at

The Ojai. Having graduated from thetennis courts at Irvine University HighSchool onto UCLA, Brymer last yearbecame the third player to win TheOjai’s CIF Boys’ singles division threeconsecutive years; the first since theiconic Bobby Riggs accomplishedthe feat in 1934-36.

While there’s now room at the top ofthe Ojai’s premier high school divisionfor someone else, the prep

tournament could see the title remainwithin the University High program,which still looks to provide thestrongest overall representation in thisweek’s CIF Boys divisions.

University senior Drew Dawsoncomprised one-half of The Ojai’s 2013CIF Boys’ doubles championshipteam, but could make the transitionover to the singles bracket this year ashe is ranked among the USTA’s top-10Boys’ 18s players in SouthernCalifornia and in the top 150nationally.

Dawson, already committed toNotre Dame, also won the 2011 CIFIndividual doubles crown as afreshman and has appeared in the CIFIndividual final each of the previousthree years.

The CIF Boys’ singles and doublescompetitions, each sporting a bracketof 64 entries, will take place at the114th Ojai.

Austin Rapp, of Rancho Mirage,reached the Boys’ 16s final last yearat The Ojai and hopes to go one stepfurther as he makes the jump to the

Drew Dawson (left), one half of the winning University High School team in 2013, will transition to singles play.

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Road to victory likely goes through University High

Boys’ CIF

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CIF Boys’ division this year. Rapp, asenior at Palm Desert High Schoolwho will join UCLA in 2014-15, is a2012 CIF Individual doubles championand 2013 CIF Individual singlessemifinalist who is ranked in the top10 of Boys’ 18s players in SouthernCalifornia and in the top 80 nationally.

Other singles contenders whichcould etch their name in Ojai CIFhistory include Palos Verdes Highsenior Jake Douglas, who reachedThe Ojai’s quarterfinals a year agoand is nationally-ranked in the USTA’stop 90 of Boys’ 18s players, and SantaAna resident and Foothill High seniorStefan Doehler, who is rankedalongside Douglas among SouthernCalifornia’s top-10 Boys’ 18s players.

A couple of favorites who play their

high school tennis just down the roadfrom The Ojai are a pair of Viewpointteammates – senior DariusMacKenzie, who fell to 2013 finalistTaylor Fritz in the final 16 at TheOjai, and junior Julian Gordy, whoreached The Ojai’s Boys’ 16s divisionsingles semifinals last year.

On the doubles side of The Ojai’sCIF Boys’ equation, University Highlooks a strong bet to keep that title inhouse through the doubles team ofsenior Eric Tseng and junior ArashHafezi, who beat Dawson and hispartner in last year’s CIF Individualdoubles final.

San Marino’s dynamic duo of seniorRobert Carter and junior DannyGealer lost a tight, three-set match inlast year’s Ojai CIF Boys’ doubles final

and will be in the mix to go one betterand knock ominous Irvine Universityoff the championship pedestal.

Corona del Mar, Orange County’sNo. 2 tennis powerhouse behindUniversity High, is expected to haveits Ojai representation led by seniorsCarson Williams and JoshKliger, who extended Carter andGealer to three sets before droppingthe match in last year’s quarterfinals.After last year’s defeat, Williams andKliger set an immediate goal ofwinning the doubles title at The Ojai in2014.

Time will tell very soon which elitehigh school players will be the creamof The Ojai’s CIF crop and enjoy thesweetest taste of that famous Ojaiorange juice.

Austin Rapp (right) will move into the Boys’ CIF division this year.

Photo

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Boys’ CIF

Austin Rapp, of

Rancho Mirage,

reached the

Boys’ 16 final last

year at The Ojai

and hopes to go

one step further

as he makes the

jump to the CIF

Boys’ division this

year.


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Weil of fortune:

Ojai resident and Weil student JackLa Plante played in the Ojai’s Mens’ Open.

Photo

courtesy

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Weil

Tennis

Academ

y

In its 17-year history, Weil TennisAcademy students have won dozens oftitles at the Ojai Tennis Tournament."We've had at least one finalist everysingle year," said founder Mark Weil.

Weil students like Patrik Fabian,Ciro Riccardi and Aidan Jianghave dominated the Boys’ 14s singles,especially, over the last few years;Jiang and Riccardi have also won theBoys’ 16s singles. Riccardi — who justcommitted to Dartmouth University —will return this year to compete in theMen’s Open Singles.

Weil's girls are no different. FrequentOjai Tournament goers may rememberGail Brodsky, who won four titles inas many years — the Girls’ 14s, 16s,18s and the Women's Open.Dominique Schaefer, 15, will returnthis year to play in the Girls’ 18ssingles; an injury kept her from the2013 tournament, but the last time wesaw her at The Ojai, in 2012, it waswith the Girls' 14 singles trophy in herhands. Fellow Weil student ViktoriaBardarova is also expected to placewell in the Girls’ 18s singles. "This year

we have an exceptionally strong group(of competitors)," said Weil. "They maysurprise some people."

Weil estimates that "over 80 percentof our students go on to play for D1(Division I) college tennis teams." Ofcourse, many of them end up comingback to compete in The Ojai with theirPac-12 college teams. This year, lookfor Weil alumni Dennis Mkrtchian,playing for the heavily-favored UCLAmen's team, as well as AlbertoReyes for the Oregon Ducks men'steam and Riko Shimizu for theWashington Huskies women's team,among others. "That's been such a bigsatisfaction," said Weil, "to watch ourkids play for Berkeley, UCLA, USC,Stanford, Arizona, Oregon — I thinkwe've put kids in almost every Pac-12program."

And it's not uncommon for Weilalumni to turn pro; Grigor Dimitrovsits at No. 16 in the ATP rankings andAnna Tatishvili has ranked as highas No. 50 in the WTA.

"It's great to see them doing so well,"Weil said.

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Tennis academy studentsgaining an upper hand

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Children are the focus of charitable efforts of The Ojai.

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from all Ojai Valley's elementaryschools and is greatly appreciated bythe teachers, principals, parents and,most importantly, the students.

Here’s what Cheryl Leslie, a SunsetElementary School teacher, had to sayabout the program. “I love the fact thatthere are enough “instructors”volunteering so the kids can be insmall enough groups that the studentsare engaged with very little downtime.”

The USTA has also recognized thesuccess of the program with a grantthat will support the program foranother year. The OVTC and the OjaiRecreation Department are the mainfunding organizations, and theprogram is run by volunteers underthe leadership of Philippe Gache.

This year, as with the last threeyears, there will be a QuickStarttournament during The Ojai onThursday afternoon before thebarbecue.

Other Youth Tennis activities are theHigh Performance Clinic where selectyoung players are invited to participatein a day of intense tennis instructionand match strategy. All Ojai tennisprofessionals donate their time and

ach year, a major objective of TheOjai tennis tournament, organizedby the Ojai Valley Tennis Club

(OVTC), is to raise funds to conductand support various programs thatintroduce tennis to elementary schoolstudents and support the developmentof young tennis players in the OjaiValley. This goal is accomplishedthrough the OVTC’s Youth TennisCommittee, which solicits additionalfunding and manages the programs.

The all-volunteer OVTC YouthTennis Committee works with the OjaiUnified School District, the city of OjaiRecreation Department and severallocal teaching pros to introduce,develop, and popularize tennis forchildren of all ages.

The most well-known of the OjaiValley Youth Tennis programs is the10 and Under instruction program,formerly known as QuickStart. Theprogram has been developed by theUSTA, specifically to speed up thelearning curve for younger childrenwith the use of smaller, lighterracquets, foam balls and smallercourts. The program results in quickerprogress and more fun because thekids can start rallying much sooner.Now in its fifth year the program hasworked with more than 1,000 students

Tournament

isn’t kidding

when it comes

to helping

youths

expertise for this special event. The Parent/Child Holiday Challenge

gets a large contingent of older andyounger players on the courts over theChristmas holidays. This event is nowin its fourth year and has proven to bea very well-liked and popular activitythat brings families together for ahealthy, fun activity.

"I'm so very grateful to live in a townthat has such a wonderful organizationas the OVTC,” said Rick Thompson,the ORD Tennis Pro, who participatedtwice with his daughter, Julienne. Heexpressed his appreciation for theChallenge sponsors and how thetournament raises money to help theyouth tennis programs throughout theyear, while at the same time giving ourcommunity's kids great matchexperience. “This is a greattournament they put on."

In addition, the OVTC providesfunding to the Ojai RecreationDepartment to support the YouthTennis programs organized byThompson. Through these programsThompson teaches tennis at the

E



www.tennisoncampus.com


Local youth tennis programs get a big boost fromtournament proceeds.

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beginner and advanced levels andconducts a summer program and anafter-school tennis league foryoungsters, who taste competition forthe first time and learn the values ofteamwork and good sportsmanship.

During The Ojai, awards arepresented to worthy youngsters toparticipate in a number of tennisclinics, summer camps, and individualprofessional tennis instruction forfurther specialized training,development and competition. Theawards are donated by Ojai tenniscoaches and are presented at theannual barbecue that will take placeThursday during tournament.

The winners are selected by theYouth Tennis Committee based on avariety of factors such assportsmanship, motivation, talent,potential to advance in competitionand financial need. Several of therecipients of these awards in the pastwill be playing in The Ojai this yearand have gone on to compete at the

college level. These programs for our youth are

made possible by the generouscontributions of sponsors such asMike Taggart, a local tennis fan, TheOjai tournament, the USTA, the OjaiRecreation Department, tenniscoaches and other organizations andmany dedicated volunteers. We arevery grateful for the generousdonations and support, without whichthese programs would not be possible.

If you would like to help developcharacter, combat juveniledelinquency and enrich the lives of ouryouth, please make a tax-deductiblecontribution to support the YouthTennis Program. Please send yourcheck payable to OVTC Youth Tennisand send it to: Ojai Valley Tennis Club,P.O. Box 482, Ojai, CA, 93023.

For more information contact JakobVos, Chair, Youth Tennis Programs, [email protected].

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From page 36

Ojai’s Julianna Adelman takes part in a youth tennis event.

www.totaltennisacademy.org


www.uclasportscamps.com

www.ojaipixies.com

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ooking back with fondness – andsome amazement – MarianneHertel Mize smiles as she recalls

the players and the atmosphere thatshe experienced at The Ojai 65 yearsago.

She remembers entering thetournament from Ventura High Schoolin 1949 when she was 16. She said,“All of us knew about The Ojai, ofcourse. I heard about it while I wasstill in junior high. It was one of thetournaments we all wanted to play in.”And play she did. Mize fought her wayto the Girls’ 18-and-Under finals,where she played Lee Van Keuren ofWestlake. She beat Van Keuren 6-2,7-5, recalling, “It was a real upset forme to beat her because I was theunderdog. It turned out to be a realgood win.”

The next year, 1950, Mize returnedto The Ojai to play again in the Girls’18-and-Under division. And, onceagain, she played her way to the finalswhere she beat Diana West, ofAlhambra, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, claiming hersecond Ojai title.

But Mize was not finished with TheOjai. She attended Cal her freshmanyear and then transferred to theUniversity of Arizona. In 1954, Mizereturned to Ojai representing Arizonain the Women’s IntercollegiateDoubles Championship with partnerAnn Armfield. Mize and Armfieldrouted Marjorie and Cynthia Gibbens,of Stanford, 6-0, 6-0 to win the cup.The next year, Mize and Armfieldcaptured their second college doublestrophy by beating the Comstock twins,Bette and Pegge, of Ventura College,9-11, 6-1, 6-0.

Mize started playing tennis at 12and was coached by Harold Chaffee,a longtime Ventura tennis instructor.After her first lesson, she played in atournament in Santa Paula, winning aracquet for her play. She laughs, “Ididn’t have much in the way of strokesor strategy, but I was fast. I wasalmost always faster than the girls Iplayed.” She played in tournaments inMonterey, Burlingame, San Diego, and

Photo

courtesy

of

Marianne H

ertel M

ize

Marianne Hertel Mize following her appearance in The Ojai in 1950.

one started by her father in Ventura.She loved playing and made manylifetime friends throughout the state.

As for her experience at The Ojai,she was four times a player and fourtimes a champion – beginning 65years ago! Mize thinks back on TheOjai with fond memories of playinggreat matches at Libbey Park, drinkingthe freshly squeezed orange juice,and having tea and cookies in theafternoon. In her college years, shestayed at a private home, recalling thekindness and the hospitality. She feltlike she was a local, coming fromVentura, but Ojai was somethingspecial, something gracious,something grand.

She is looking forward to returningto The Ojai this year to present thewinner’s trophy for the Girls’ 18-and-Under division. What will be the

history of this year’s winner in TheOjai? Will she attend The Ojai on the65th anniversary of her first trophy, asMize is doing? We sincerely hope so,for it is a thrill to see Mize at Ojai onceagain.

Photo

by

Doug T

hom

pson

Mize will present the trophy to the Girls’18s singles winner.

Former player turns presenter 65 years laterL


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Ruby and Jack Morrison

Photo

courtesy

of

the M

orr

ison f

am

ily

downtown to Libbey Park.There’s oak trees and lots ofgrass and hospitality. It’s such apersonal thing and peoplearound here take great pride. Idon’t think I’ve ever heardanyone tell me they won’t beback.”

Ruby singlehandedlymaintained the beauty and thedecorum of the Tea Tent fordecades. And because of theTea Tent, Ruby said that The Ojaiwas “the Wimbledon of theWest,” something quoted innumerous publicationsthroughout the country.

Please join us in a celebrationof Ruby and her dedication toThe Ojai Saturday, April 26, at 2p.m. – in the Tea Tent, of course!

uby Keith Morrison, friend ofThe Ojai and volunteersince 1939, died Dec. 26,

2013, one month shy of 92.Ruby and her husband Jack,who predeceased her in 2010,led the Ojai Valley Tennis Clubboard of directors for 15 years,serving as secretary andpresident alternately – anunprecedented role ofleadership. They loved andrespected the tournament,always willing to help with thesmallest detail or greatest oftasks.

“It’s what you do in April,”Ruby would say. “It’s somethingwe look forward to every year,the whole town does. It’s sounique, when you come

In Memoriam

Ruby Keith Morrisonvolunteer, OVTC director

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Tennis is her racquetThe following article was written by Rose

Boggs, a longtime resident of the OjaiValley who has been involved with thetournament for 80 years. She has taughttennis for the Ojai Recreation Departmentand also served a stint as the Nordhofftennis coach. This article appeared in theApril 18, 1990, issue of the Ojai ValleyNews.

By Rose Boggs

et me take you back to the 33rdOjai Valley Tennis Tournament.

Imagine a five-year-old girlsitting on wooden planks that hadbeen carefully placed over the dirt andaround the tennis courts. Through big,brown eyes she sat for hours at a timewatching the champions and futurechampions.

That little girl was me. I was havingmy first tennis lesson. I learned to playwhile watching the tennis playersevery year.

Ojai was a quiet little town in thosedays. The Ojai Valley Tennis

Tournament was about the mostexciting event happening each year.Ojai has grown, and in the process, alot of things that were a part of TheOjai have disappeared.

The clubhouse was a charming,dark green, wooden building locatednear court three and the bowl. It had aviewing porch, bathrooms, andshowers, and a storage room. At timesthere was a pro shop. Only theplayers in the tournament wereallowed to use the showers and thebathrooms. The rest of the year, theywere locked up.

The building was there when I wasgrowing up, but about the time thebowl was built the clubhousedisappeared. From the porch of theclubhouse you could look acrosscourts three and four and see thehexagon-shaped orange juice stand,another dark green and very smallwooden building.

Players and spectators were servedorange juice in small paper cups from10 a.m. until noon each day. Now the

orange juice is served from the TeaTent.

The entrance gate to thetournament was at the front of thepark, just west of the bank parking lot.There was a small, dark green,wooden building that stood there year-round. I never had to pay to enter.Since my father was the parkcaretaker, I just smiled at the tickettaker and said I had to go in to see mydad. It worked until the years when Iwas a player in the tournament.

As I mentioned before, theclubhouse bathrooms were for theplayers. The spectators used the smallpublic bathrooms behind the postoffice. These bathrooms disappearedwhen the post office was enlarged.

The Thursday night street dancehas also disappeared from the scene.What a thrill it was to dance withplayers such as Ted Schroeder on themain street in front of the Lion’s HeadFountain!

Energetic teenagers sat all over thewall and arches that were opposite the

Rose Boggs has been involved with The Ojai since she was 5.

Oja

i Valle

y N

ew

s a

rchive p

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Arcade. Along withthe street dance,the walls andarches andbeautiful wisteriahave disappeared.

In recent yearsthe Friday nightdance at Nordhoffhas gone the wayof the Thursdaynight street dance.Nordhoff studentsand teachersdecorated the gym.Live bands werebrought in. Parentsand faculty werechaperones. Mr.Pierpont’s specialpunch was served.

What a thrill itwas when ShirleyTemple attendedthe dance in 1942!She danced with

The orange juice booth that stood for many years in Libbey Park.

Photo

courtesy

of

Rose B

oggs


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several Nordhoff students. Since shewas not a player in the tournamentshe had to have a ticket to get in. Shecame to The Ojai that year to cheerfor her classmates at Westlake Schoolwho were in the finals. Boys had towear a coat and tie to attend thedance. Today’s teenagers would ratherwear Big Dog shorts and Nikes.

The Tea Tent Tradition is in nodanger of disappearing and hasundergone very little change. Missingis the permanent rectangular iron

frame that stood in the park to thewest of court one. We used to climband swing from the bars. Over thisframe the tan canvas tea tent wasplaced each April. The frame hasdisappeared, but a lovely green tentappears each year.

Ojai Valley Garden Club membersarrange the floral centerpieces for theTea Table. The floral scheme is basedon the colors of the high schools inOjai. Thursday’s flowers are blue andgold in honor of Nordhoff High; Friday,it’s red and white for Ojai ValleySchool; Saturday, blue and white forVillanova and Sunday honors Thacher

Santa Monica’s Carmel Peterson and JessicaGoldbeck.

Ventura College’s men’s team annually turns outchampionship-caliber players and this year is no different.Leading the Pirates’ charge this year is 2013 ITA All-American Victor Mendes, who reached the CCCAAIndividual singles final as a No. 7 seed at The Ojai lastyear and hopes to go one step better this week. Mendesand Zach Pittman were rated Nos. 2 and 7, respectively inthe ITA’s preseason Southern California community collegerankings and figure to be factors at The Ojai.

Other top-ranked singles players in the ITA’s SouthernCalifornia preseason poll who could be gunning for theCCCAA Individual singles championship include 2013 ITAAll-American Nathan Eshmade and Amadi Kagoma fromCerritos College, James Tenbroech and Jordan Lomasfrom San Diego Mesa College, 2013 ITA All-AmericanRichard Catabona from LA Pierce College, RiversideCollege’s Danny Garcia (a 2013 ITA All-American) and

David Stanko and Mt. San Jacinto College’s VitinhoGalvao.

Contending doubles teams who are worth watching duringthe CCCAA Individual doubles tournament at The Ojai thisweek are Cerritos’ Eshmade and Kagoma, Ventura’sMendes and Pittman, Mt. San Jacinto’s Galvao andBruno Campos, and Riverside’s Garcia and Stanko.

From page 24

Community College State Championships

Rose Boggs (left) poses

with tennis star Tracy

Austin at last year’s Ojai

Tennis Tournament.

Photo

by

Holly

Roberts

School with green and gold.The silver urns, silver sugar tongs

and china cups and saucers are stillused. Complimentary tea and cookiesare served from 3 to 5 p.m. daily forplayers and spectators. The onlyingredients missing from the Tea Tentare the Girl Scouts washing the cupsand the Girl Scout cookies.

At one time there were lights strungdown the middle of courts one andthree. They were inadequate as theywere far too dim and subject to beingshattered by mishit balls andvandalism. I can’t say that they aremissed.

The oak trees that shaded thosedark green wood buildings are fewerin number. The trees in the park andthe perfume of the orange blossomspermeating the air are what makesThe Ojai so special.

Ojai is not the quiet little town itonce was. You can no longer stand onMain Street and hear the “whack” ofthe tennis balls. Nor can you hear thepublic address system … “TracyAustin, please report to thetournament desk.”

The Ojai is still the most excitingevent happening in Ojai each year. Ihope it never disappears. I played inThe Ojai. Our children played in TheOjai. Our grandchildren will play inThe Ojai.

It’s tradition.

From page 45


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Danielle Lao is a former USC Trojanand a two-time NCAA All Americanwho is currently playing on thewomen’s professional circuit. This pastwinter, Lao documented the ups,downs, and learning experiences ofplaying college tennis in her book,“The Invaluable Experience” whichshe co-authored with writer RickLimpert. “The Invaluable Experience”is available on Amazon.com as aKindle Book. Lao wrote this pieceabout her experiences playing TheOjai.

By Danielle Laoeing a Southern California native,I always felt the pride in growingup and competing in one of the

best tennis sections in the UnitedStates. Although I knew I was a part ofsomething special, I did not grasp thefull appreciation for SouthernCalifornia’s tennis culture until my finalyear of college.

It was at The Ojai tournament,where I suddenly realized and

absorbed its full effect. Unfortunatelyfor me, I had not played any of theOjai events before my collegiatecareer, so it took me a few years togather a greater appreciation to what itall really meant to me.

Entering my last year of college, Iwas not sure whether I would behanging up my rackets or not after theseason. Because of this uncertainty, Iknew there was a possibility that Iwould be experiencing many lasts asa tennis player, so I did my best tosoak in everything I could as a senior.

I have always heard from pastplayers I idolized how magic happensat The Ojai. Many of them have theirgreatest, and most memorablemoments at Libbey Park.

I wish I could tell a miraculous storyabout how I had won The Ojai in themost dramatic fashion, but mymoment of elation happened a littledifferently. Having lost in the earlierrounds, I had plenty of time to wander

The Lao down on playing in The Ojaiaround, watch matches, and take inthe atmosphere as a spectator.

In hindsight though, this was ablessing in disguise. Without having toworry about the typical routine thatgoes into preparing for a match, Icould sit back and actually observe allthat goes into The Ojai. There arecountless people that open theirhouses to the players competing in thetournament and a great numberinvolved in the planning andpreparation that makes thetournament run smoothly.

Above all, what still amazes metoday is all of the people who continueto return to the tournament, as playersand as spectators. To say the least,there is something special at The Ojaithat keeps bringing people back tohelp, compete or watch.

I was really feeling the good vibesand energy from the town of Ojai, andinstead of rushing back home to LosAngeles, I opted to stay until

Danielle Lao recently authored a book in which she wrote about her college tennis experiences.

Photo

by

Ric

k L

impert

B


championship Sunday. On Saturdaynight, I asked my coach West Nott if itwas possible to get a hit in thefollowing day. Because it waschampionship Sunday, all the bigmatches had been moved to LibbeyPark, so if I wanted to squeeze a hitin, it would have to be very early.

I was determined to practice, so Idragged West out at 6:30 a.m. to hiton Court 1. (He was a great sport, bythe way). Arriving at the courts at 6:15,Libbey looked so different empty. Asthe sun got higher on this quiet andbeautiful morning, West and I ranaround the whole court, exchangingheavy ground strokes.

At around 7, I started to hear

whispers as the tournament directorsand officials filed in to organizethemselves. By 7:30, the whisperturned into a chatter as the volunteersbegan to come in and situatethemselves and to squeeze fresh Ojaiorange juice.

As 7:45 rolled around, the chatterevolved into what sounded like theentire town being awake. As West andI sat on the benches watching thebusyness of the tournament, we talkedabout how awesome it was that wegradually heard the town of Ojai wakeup, on championship Sunday, whileplaying on Court 1.

It was all of a sudden overwhelmingwhen I combined the warm energy I

was feeling to the realization of howmuch history this tournament has.Legends like Pete Sampras, BillieJean King, Arthur Ashe, JimmyConnors, and Michael Chang havebeen in that draw at some point intheir life.

There was something special aboutplaying at a place you know manychampions before you haveexperienced great moments. Then andthere I finally understood what keepsbringing people back to The Ojai.People return to honor how suchcommunity enthusiasm and SouthernCalifornia tradition can bring togetherso many individuals from differentgenerations under one sport, tennis.

The cover ofDanielle Lao’s book

Danielle Lao recently wrote a book in which she talked aboutplaying in The Ojai.

Photo

by

Ric

k L

impert

“To say the least, there

is something special

at The Ojai that keeps

bringing people back

to help, compete or

watch.”


www.weiltennis.com

Documents

Ojai tennis program 2014