Bud Kling’s team started the season in March by winning the California Classic in Fresno, defeating Northern California powerhouse Menlo, 5-2.
The Dolphins then finished second in the National High School Tennis All-American Tournament, which featured 16 of the nation’s best tennis teams, including Horace Mann School (New York), Corona Del Mar and San Marino.
Photo: PaliHi Photography
Palisades lost in the championship match to Torrey Pines, the defending national champion, 6-3, at Newport Beach.
Overall this season, the Dolphins were 27-2 as they went undefeated in Western League play and cruised to an eighth straight City team title and the program’s 34th overall. Individually, the Dolphins took second (Jake Sands) and third (Ben Goldberg), and were first, second and fourth in doubles as Diego Huttepain and Henry Lovett beat teammates Alex Liu and Jared Fong in the final.
“It was a good year,” Kling said.
In the state regionals, Palisades defeated Los Alamitos, 4-3, but then fell to University (Irvine). Kling explained that Torrey Pines, San Bernardino and Palisades were the three top-ranked teams, but had to play without their number-one players, who were in tournaments. All three teams lost in the quarterfinals.
“If we had Jake Sands, who was competing in Hawaii, we would have prevailed,” Kling said.
He loses only four seniors: Captain Ben Goldberg (headed for UCLA), and doubles players Alex and Kevin Liu and Jared Fong.
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