GIRLS' TENNIS: ALL NOT LOST FOR CAMPBELL HALL VIKINGS STILL SHARE OLYMPIC TITLE.

Byline: ERIK BOAL

Special to the Daily News

After everything went right for 15 matches for the Campbell Hall of North Hollywood girls' tennis team, it all appeared to go wrong at the worst possible time Thursday against Olympic League rival Brentwood.

But even though the Vikings were handed their first setback of the season, all was not lost for the top-ranked team in Southern Section Div. II.

Although Campbell Hall's bid for the program's first undefeated regular- season since 2003 was halted, the Vikings' 10-8 loss at Valley College was enough to secure a share of the league title and possibly hold on to the No. 1 seed when the playoff pairings are released Nov. 5.

"I'm proud of the way the girls fought back in the last round, because the first two rounds we weren't there," Campbell Hall coach Steve Kuechel said. "Hopefully this loss is going to wake some people up so this doesn't happen again."

Campbell Hall (15-1, 6-1), which concludes its regular-season Oct.29 against Maranatha of Pasadena, recorded a 10-8 victory Oct.2 at Brentwood (10-6, 6-1). That effort enabled the Vikings to hold a 167-133 edge on combined games in the two matches, allowing them to represent the league as its No. 1 entry in the playoffs.

"This could cause chaos in our division, but it's not as bad as it could've been," Kuechel said. "We might be seeded behind Beverly Hills now, but at least we won't be below Brentwood."

Campbell Hall, which recorded an 11-7 nonleague victory Wednesday at Santa Barbara, appeared sluggish the first two rounds and Brentwood took full advantage.

The Eagles, who won the Div.III title in 2005, relied on another impressive performance from reigning Southern Section singles champion Logan Hansen and six doubles victories to open the match to lead Campbell Hall 8-4 entering the final round.

"It seemed like Brentwood wanted it more than we did," Kuechel said. "I'm not going to use the schedule as an excuse. (The first two rounds) was just a poor performance on our part."

The Stanford-bound Hansen swept Sarah Lee, Michelle Sulahian and Sabrina Santamaria for the second time this year, accounting for six of their 10 losses in 131 combined sets. The trio rebounded to drop a combined four games in their six wins.

Ava Sadeghi and Bree Sinclair closed out the match with a 7-6 (3) victory over Kayla Katz and Amelia Rose. Jenny Cherry and Hannah Moss accounted for the other doubles point with a 6-2 triumph over Kellen Alberstone and Becca Thorne.

"We were up in all three doubles sets in the last round and we almost came back and won (on games)," Kuechel said. "Whatever was the problem (Thursday), hopefully we got it all out of our system before the playoffs."

-- Jacob H. Pollon contributed

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