PREP TENNIS : University, Van Nuys Win Titles

Depth of talent was the difference in the City Section boys team tennis finals Tuesday at The Racquet Centre in Studio City.

In the boys 4-A final, University earned a one-sided victory over Taft, 23-6 1/2, to capture its second championship in three years.

Van Nuys (14-1) defeated Bell, 18-11 1/2, for the 3-A title after finishing second last year.

Before the competition, Van Nuys Coach Jim Buck said he thought the championship would be decided in the doubles play. Lucky for him that wasn’t the case.

Bell (16-1) forced Van Nuys to rely on its singles players by winning seven of the nine doubles matches. Led by its No. 1 singles player Steve Park, Van Nuys responded by winning 13 of 16 singles matches.

“The difference today was the great play we got from our third and fourth (singles) players,” Buck said.

After losing only two sets in three rounds of playoffs, University (16-0) believed it was more talented than Taft (14-1), but never discounted Taft’s talented sophomore Dylan Mann.

Mann, Taft’s No. 1 singles player and considered by many to be the best player in the city, earned four of the five singles victories by Taft, including a dramatic victory over University’s No. 1 singles player Jay Jackson, 7-5.

“I think Taft had the best player today in Mann,” University Coach Tom Anderson said. “But we had the best team.”