SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS: VALENCIA DRAWS STRENGTH FROM STRICKEN COACH VIKINGS TAKE HER SPIRIT INTO TITLE MATCH.

Byline: ERIK BOAL Special to the Daily News

From the day Annie Kellogg took over as coach of the Valencia High girls' varsity tennis team five seasons ago, she has been in a fight to help the Vikings gain respect.

First it was in the Foothill League, as Valencia ended Burbank's decade of dominance en route to winning its first of five consecutive titles.

Then it came in Southern Section Div. III, as Kellogg led Valencia to its first championship match last season before the Vikings lost to Brentwood 10-8.

Valencia (20-1) will return to the Claremont Club for a second consecutive year when they face Chadwick of Rancho Palos Verdes at 11:30 a.m. today in the Div. III final. But Kellogg's fight has taken on a much greater perspective in the past week.

Hours before Tuesday's quarterfinal match against Mayfield of Pasadena, Kellogg successfully underwent double-mastectomy surgery in a Tarzana hospital. The Vikings dedicated their 10-8 win that day to Kellogg. They did so again following an emotional 10-8 semifinal triumph over La Canada on Thursday, the day Kellogg was released from the hospital.

``We're always thinking of her,'' said senior Michelle Stock, one of four starters returning from last year's lineup that competed against Brentwood. ``She deserves it more than we do. She's amazing.''

Kellogg's status to attend today's match remains uncertain, leaving junior-varsity coach Susan Amico to possibly guide the fourth-seeded Vikings -- who were unranked in Div. III at the start of the season -- in their quest for the program's first championship against No. 3 Chadwick (18-2).

``I'm going to try to be there,'' Kellogg said. ``It just depends on my strength.''

Said Amico: ``I think she's going to be there. We might have to push her around in a wheelchair, but she cares about these girls so much that she wants to make every effort to be there.''

In Kellogg's absence last week, Valencia drew strength from the lessons the two-time Daily News Coach of the Year has taught them throughout the season to fulfill their goal of returning to the final.

``Since the beginning of the season, we've been so focused and so determined to go as far as we can,'' said Stock, a four-year starter who has helped Valencia bring an 18-match winning streak into today's final. ``We want her to be there to see it. Having her there would make me feel so much better, because she always keeps me up.''

As for Kellogg, she remains positive about what lies ahead in her battle with breast cancer.

``I'm just going to fight this like I would any other adversity I've faced,'' she said. ``I'm going to sit down with the doctors and put together a game plan for this like I would any of our opponents.''

For Stock and fellow veterans Isabella Fraczek, Courtney Kaska, Chloe Kwock, Lehren MacKay and Monique Palmera, delivering a championship would be the ultimate therapy for Kellogg.

``We're going to give them a fight and we're going to make them work for it,'' Palmera said. ``We get that energy from her.''

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From left, Chole Kwock, Monique Palmera, Isabella Fraczek, Lehren Mackay and Courtney Kaska have led Valencia into today's Div. III championship match against Chadwick.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News