Mirjam Swanson
GLENDALE -- o7 Odds and ends from the local high school boys' tennis
scenef7 :
Near-perfect addition: There were rumors and whispers and -- OK,
actually, the members of the Hoover High boys' tennis team began boasting
the moment they first glimpsed the player who would be their biggest
addition hitting on the school's courts last summer.
At the time, they weren't sure, or couldn't agree, on what the guy's
name was, but they knew he had just moved to Hoover's district from South
Korea and, more importantly, that he had game.
Well, they told us so.
Dylan Kim, whose Korean name is actually Seong Kim, has helped Coach
Lynn Santamaria's instantly unstoppable Tornadoes streak to their 11-0,
2-0 Pacific League start, including Tuesday's league-opening 14-4 win
against a talented Arcadia squad.
The junior with the constantly improving grasp of English has won all
17 sets he's played, and more, 49 of 51 games he's played. That means
almost every time he's stepped on the court, he's stepped off not long
after, touching the ends of his thumb and index fingers to indicate: 6-0.
Kim has dropped two games in doubles play, winning the set he teammed
with Eddie Choi, 6-2.
Hard to find a better way to fit in on a new team with four other
tournament players than to compile those kind of numbers -- except that
Kim would have fit in anyway.
Who would know better than Amy Weber and Jane Moon, two girls' tennis
players at Hoover and the boys' team's managers, who have a unique
perspective on the whole thing.
"They're a really nice group this year," Moon said.
"And Dylan's the best," Weber agreed. "He knows how good he is, but
he's so cool about it."
