BOYS' TENNIS NOTEBOOK: LITTLEROCK BETTER, BUT NOT BY MUCH.

Byline: Nevin Barich  Staff Writer

Things are going better this season than they were last year for the Littlerock boys' tennis team. That's not saying much, however, when you consider the Lobos won just one match in 2001.

Overall, things aren't much rosier in 2002. Littlerock started the season with eight losses in its first 10 matches, and the picture doesn't figure to get much brighter any time soon.

Though the Lobos do have some talented young players, all but three will be graduating after this season. Also, coach John Derse said the junior varsity doesn't offer any solid varsity prospects.

``There are no real exciting players on the junior varsity,'' Derse said. ``There's nobody who I think will be returning.''

Pedro Miranda (No. 3 singles) and Chris Rivas (No. 1 doubles) are two of the few bright spots for Littlerock. Both are freshmen, so look for them to continue to be standouts over the next few seasons.

--Round two: Lancaster played 11-time defending Golden League champion Quartz Hill on Tuesday for the second time. The two teams played last month with Quartz Hill winning handily 14-4.

This time, however, Lancaster coach Kurt Webendorfer was hoping his team would give the Rebels a run for their money since Tuesday's match was at Antelope Valley College, the Eagles' home court.

``The first time,'' Webendorfer said, ``it was on Quartz Hill's home court and they're tough to beat at their place. It's really windy over there and that definitely affected our singles play.''

To beat Quartz Hill, Lancaster's singles players had to do better than the two points they managed against the Rebels the first time. Junior Bertan Cakir, a foreign-exchange student from Germany, is Lancaster's No. 1 singles player and always provides a challenge. Sophomore Pichaya Sammai, the team's No. 2 singles player, is also tough but was recently hospitalized with a heart murmur and is not 100 percent.

Lancaster already felt the loss of Sammai last week in its match against Highland, the other team expected to give Quartz Hill a battle for the league title. Sammai was out for that match and Dhackson Jackson, a junior varsity player who took Sammai's place, was no match for Highland. Jackson won just two games en route to losing all three sets in the Eagles' 11-7 setback.

``With Sammai, we get six singles points in that match and our doubles aren't weakened,'' Webendorfer said. ``Instead, we got four singles points. That's the main difference.''

--Bad time to leave: A potential matchup for league supremacy was not to be Friday when Highland battled Quartz Hill. Highland had four players gone for various reasons and thus was no match for the Rebels.

Kevin Jarbo, who recently accepted a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, was taking a trip to that campus. Gemeyel Lee has a scholarship to Cal and was also visiting his future campus. Finally, Jason Reyes and Mike Hinckley missed the match because they were attending a leadership conference in San Jose.

Bilson Campana, Carson Arauca, Hau Nguyen and Chris Blevins all moved up from the junior varsity to play in the match.

--Frustrated with himself: Quartz Hill coach Bill Lenaway has got on his team at times for not living up to his expectations. However, he admits that sometimes he's too hard on them.

``The biggest frustration I have is when I realize I'm expecting too much,'' Lenaway said. ``My expectations are probably higher than they ought to be. I know my players are doing the best they can.''

Quartz Hill's best seems to be pretty good. The team has lost just once this year and is unbeaten in league.