Pirates Enter CIF Playoffs with Five League Titles Under Their Belts
It’s CIF playoff time for Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. Boy’s tennis, volleyball, golf and swimming along with girl’s track clinched league titles heading into CIF play. That makes 14-consecutive league titles for Pirates’ volleyball and five league championships this spring.
Tennis
Boy’s tennis opened its post-league play yesterday after winning the Los Padres League with an undefeated record of 12-0 in league and 14-2 overall.
The Pirates snagged first place in both singles and doubles play in the Los Padres League Finals May 4. Senior Ryan Allen and junior Evan Ineman took the doubles crown after eliminating fellow Pirates Brandon Hemming and Justin Redman in the semifinals.
Juan Ferrer, a sophomore transfer from Spain, took the singles title from defending champ Alex Jensen of Lompoc. Santa Ynez Senior and co-captain Chase Carhartt fell to Ferrer in the second round of the tournament.
“Our whole team is really deep this year, so it was bound to happen,” Carhartt said of the Pirate versus Pirate matches.
The boys will advance to the second round of CIF competition on May 12 if they can survive the winner of the wildcard match between Norwalk and Milken Community High Schools.
“I’ve been coaching for 45 years and I’ve never found much better kids than this,” said assistant coach Larry Popkin. Popkin was forced to step down as head coach earlier this year following a heart attack in March.
Swimming
Girls swimming finished out the regular season with a third-place showing in the league finals held at Paul Nelson Pool in Santa Maria.
“We finished just about how we expected to do,” said Head Coach Jake Kalkowski. “They’re dedicated and just with the small team that we have, we were still able to do reasonably well.”
Sophomore Elisabeth Sweet finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Freshman Jordan Devine took second in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle finals.
Both girls swam slower times due to not shaving down as part of resistance training for the CIF finals in Long Beach.
“In CIF, I know I’ll do better because I’ll get to shave down,” Sweet said.
Baseball
Santa Ynez baseball faces possible elimination from playoff contention today as it squares off against Los Padres League-leader Lompoc in the final game of the 2007 season.
This is the second meeting between Lompoc and Santa Ynez. Lompoc took the first game 8-9 in April.
The Pirates’ record stands at 4-5-1 in league and 14-8-1 overall after a mid-season slump that cost the team its chance at a league title.
“They’re a real good team,” said Head Coach Dave Kuehn. “We just faltered mid season in league.”
The CIF wildcard round begins May 14.