Monta Vista's Jason Tsui helped the Matadors to league and CCS titles, and he also teamed with Stefan Parker to finish second in the CCS doubles tournament.

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Matadors claim another CCS tennis championship

By DICK SPARRER

Monta Vista didn't exactly match last season's success in the 1999 boys tennis season.

But you won't catch veteran coach Terry Cress complaining too loudly about it.

You see, a year ago the Matadors posted a 24-1 record on their way to league and Central Coast Section championships.

And this year? Well, the Mats were just 22-1.

Of course, those Matadors did win their fourth-straight league title. And they did win their third-straight CCS crown.

So is Cress complaining? No way!

Monta Vista continued its domination of area tennis with 22 wins in 23 matches. The only mar on the otherwise perfect MV record was a 7-0 setback to private school powerhouse Menlo.

Monta Vista more than made up for that defeat with 7-0 wins over Gunn and Serra in the CCS Division I playoffs. The Matadors clinched the section title with a 6-1 win over Bellarmine in the finals.

Cress celebrated his 30th season as the Monta Vista tennis coach with his sixth-straight 20-plus-wins season. The coach has led the Matadors to some impressive numbers: a 133-9 record, three CCS titles (and two seconds and a third) and four league championships (and two seconds).

And the future doesn't look any less bright for the Mats, who had sophomores playing in the top four singles spots throughout the CCS playoffs.

Stefan Parker, Jason Tsui, Ben Bartels and Adam Horvath are sophs who offer a promising future for Monta Vista. But the present doesn't look too bad, either.

Parker won twice at No. 1 singles to lead the Matadors to 7-0 wins over Gunn and Serra in the first two rounds of CCS competition.

Parker won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 at No. 1 to start the Mats on the road to the lopsided win over the Titans. Tsui won |6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, Bartels 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 and Horvath 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4.

Junior Ryan Fujii and senior Kelvin Chu teamed for a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles. Senior Stephen Fung and junior David Shnapek won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles, and sophomores Victor Nguyen and Mandeep Singh won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 3.

Parker won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1, Tsui rolled 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2, Bartels cruised 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3 and Horvath was a 6-1, 6-1 winner at No. 4 in the semifinal win over Serra.

Chu and Fujii pulled out a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles, Shnapek and Fung won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 and Nguyen and Singh won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3.

Parker dropped a 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-5 heartbreaker to Ryan Ariko of Bellarmine at No. 1 singles, but that was the only loss Monta Vista would suffer in a 6-1 win over the Bells in the CCS Division I title match.

Tsui fought for a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 2, Bartels won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 and Horvath won 6-0, 7-5 at No. 4.

Monta Vista swept in doubles play to clinch the CCS title. Chu and Fujii pulled out a tough 6-3, 5-7, 6-0 win at No. 1, Shnapek and Fung won 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 and Nguyen and Singh won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3.

Parker-Tsui star

Parker and Tsui moved from singles to doubles play for the CCS individual tournament, and the Monta Vista pair finished second overall in the section.

The sophomores opened the tourney with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Ryan Atkins and Edon Raviv of Cupertino, then beat teammates Bartels and Horvath 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the next round. Bartels and Horvath had opened with a win over a Bellarmine duo.

Parker and Tsui handled a Palo Alto pair 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) in the semi-finals before losing 6-3, 6-2 in the finals to a team from Robert Louis Stevenson.

Parker and Tsui earned their CCS berth by winning the league doubles championship.

 

Hall of Famer

It's been quite a spring for the Parker family.

Not only did Stefan lead Monta Vista to league and CCS glories, but his father was inducted into the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame.

Larry Parker, an independent teaching professional in Cupertino, was won of three tennis stars inducted to the Hall during ceremonies held in early May.

Parker, born and raised in St. Louis, played in the U.S. Open, the Australian Open and Wimbledon and was ranked No. 50 nationally in men's singles. He was also ranked No. 1 in men's singles and doubles in the Missouri Valley Section.

He is a former Northern California USPTA Pro of the Year, and he and wife, Chris, were ranked No. 1 in Northern California in mixed doubles.

Parker was the fourth in his family to earn such recognition. His father, Ward, his mother, Merceina, and his brother, Jim, have already earned induction in the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame.

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