Tennis /Chris J. Parker : A Talented Pool of Women Players Becomes Trend in Ventura County

Different regions of the United States are famous for producing an abundance of quality athletes in one sport. Indiana is the birthplace of numerous top-notch basketball players, Southern California produces professional baseball players and many skilled football players come from Texas.

In that vein, Ventura County has produced some of the top collegiate women tennis players in the nation. Seven players who grew up in Ventura County are on scholarship at major universities.

“I’ve been in the county for 18 years and this is the finest group of girls, by far, that have come along simultaneously,” said Wayne Bryan, a tennis pro at Cabrillo Racquet Club in Camarillo.

Jandrea Ouwendijk and Val Stukovsky, from Rio Mesa and Camarillo highs, respectively, are freshmen at Fresno State; Julie Gaiser (Rio Mesa) is a freshman at Pepperdine; Wendy Ouwendijk (Rio Mesa) is a sophomore at Tennessee; Francesca Heron (Oxnard) is a senior at UC Santa Barbara; Onnaca Heron (Oxnard) is a freshman at Cal Poly Pomona; and Julie Tullberg (Nordhoff) is a freshman at San Diego State.

“Not only is it a good group in quantity, but it’s also a great group in terms of quality,” Bryan said.

Add Ventura County: Even with seven of its top women now in the collegiate ranks, Ventura County’s junior program is still producing top-notch players.

Two teams from the Ventura County Junior Tennis Assn. have advanced to the state championship, to be held at UCLA in late August. And another will qualify for the championship if it beats a team from Santa Barbara in a qualifying match later this summer.

Trivia time: What do John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Barbara Gerken have in common? (Answer below.)

The monster of midcourt: Ron McCabe is proud of the Southern California Tennis Club Summer Doubles Challenge Series--not only for having a draw so large he dubbed it “a monster doubles tournament,” but because the participants can play whenever it is convenient.

Teams have two weeks to complete the preliminary rounds, with sites and times determined by the team captains. The quarterfinals through the finals of the open bracket and the semifinals and finals of the B and C levels are played at the Racquet Centre in Universal City.

The series, which is the only one of its type sanctioned by the Southern California Tennis Assn., begins July 9.

Doubles, part II: Entries still are being taken for the 13th Calabasas Park men’s doubles tournament, to be held July 18-22 at the Calabasas Park Tennis Club.

The tournament, open to any U. S. Tennis Assn. member, has an open men’s doubles competition and a competition for doubles players 35 and older, with prize money awarded to the top finishers. Matches start at 6 p.m.

Information: 818-888-8100.

Holiday drive: July 4th traditionally has been a holiday of Frisbees, volleyballs and softballs. But the Chrysler California tennis series offers an alternative to players looking for something to do while their charcoal is heating up.

The tournament, open to men and women in singles and mixed doubles at all levels, will be held at Cal State Northridge on July 2-4. It is the second of eight Chrysler California tournaments being held through the end of December. The first three were scheduled during the summer holidays--Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

“The idea is that there are probably a lot of people staying home on the holidays,” David Sterle, the series director, said.

The top player at each level after the eighth tournament will advance to a state championship in late January. Jeff Johanson of Chatsworth leads the men’s A division with 35 points. Jamie Barajas of Reseda is second with 25 points.

Information: 818-885-3507.

Trivia answer: All three are Americans competing in Wimbledon. Gerken, a Thousand Oaks resident, has competed on the grass courts for the past five years but her best international showing so far has been at the U. S. Open, where she advanced to the quarterfinals in 1981.

This year, Gerken lost in the first round to Japan’s Masako Yanagi, 6-4, 6-1, but she is still competing. Gerken teamed with Lea Antonoplis of Glendora to defeat Dianne Balestrat and Manuela Maleeva, 6-1, 6-4, in a first-round doubles match.