CHATTER: TEXANS SIGN MONTCLAIR PREP GRAD BENTLEY.

Kevin Bentley, a former Montclair Prep of Panorama City football star, has agreed to terms with the Houston Texans on a three-year, $4 million dollar contract, according to his agent Kenny Zuckerman.

"Kevin's really excited," Zuckerman said. "He's been playing behind one of the best linebacking corps in the league in Seattle, but now he's going to a team where he'll have an opportunity to start right away."

Bentley, a 1998 Montclair Prep graduate, has been a versatile backup in his three seasons in Seattle, playing mostly on special teams.

"People see what he can do," Zuckerman said. "He's got a lot of tread left on the tires."

Bentley was a fourth- round pick in 2002 out of Northwestern, where he was a three-time all Big Ten selection. His senior year he rushed for over 1,000 yards, scored 22 touchdowns and recorded 22 tackles as a fullback/linebacker.

-- Ramona Shelburne 

Streaks continue for Thacher, Wolverines

Ryan Thacher played only one set Monday in Harvard-Westlake of Studio City's season opener, but it was enough to gather nearly 50 spectators around the court for his battle with Brentwood's Walker Kehrer.

The Stanford-bound Thacher survived a blister on the bottom of his left foot and some impressive shot-making by Kehrer to prevail 7-6 (3), his 27th straight set without a loss in high school competition dating to his sophomore year.

Thacher's effort, combined with doubles sweeps from Chris Kenney/Mark Seraydarian and Andrew Smith/Alex Wittenberg, helped the visiting Wolverines extended their regular-season unbeaten streak to 93 matches with a 12-6 victory over the Eagles (2-2).

"It's pretty unbelievable to think that I'm a senior and I'm going to graduate in three months," said Thacher, who was replaced by Jeffrey Sperling so he could prepare for an SCTA awards banquet at UCLA.

"This team is something I've been a part of the last three years and a lot of the guys on this team are my really good friends, so I enjoy spending time with them. This shows there are a lot of good matches out there for me, especially the ones outside of our league. I enjoy being part of team atmosphere."

Harvard-Westlake, which will put its streak on the line Thursday in a nonleague match against reigning Div.III champion Crossroads of Santa Monica, received two singles wins each from freshman Matt Wagner and Gareth Anwar.

"They were excited to go out and play and get the match tempo because it's different than it is in our training," Wolverines coach Chris Simpson said. "All of our doubles guys have been playing with the same partners the last week, so now we can go back and see if need to make any changes because we've got some big matches coming up on our schedule."

McMorrow captures USTA title in Hawaii

Thousand Oaks senior Kyle McMorrow, who will attend Washington in the fall, won his second 18-under title in the past two months, defeating Walker Kehrer 6-3, 6-3 in the final at the recent USTA National Open in Waipahu, Hawaii.

McMorrow, who is competing this season for the Lancers, captured the California Bowl title in Calabasas in December, defeating teammate Denis Lin 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the final.

Hart, Valencia softball in national Fab 50

Although the next rankings could be subject to change, the Hart of Newhall and Valencia softball teams were recognized in the Rivals.com preseason Fab 50 national poll.

Hart, which lost 1-0 Saturday to Highland of Palmdale in its own tournament, is ranked No. 12 and Valencia, which opens today in a nonleague doubleheader at Camarillo, is No. 45.

-- Erik Boal