Jenny Gonzalez

While her next victim patiently stands on Court 1, Jenny Gonzalez sits and chats with a reporter, not knowing that she is holding up her opponent and team competition. The first set for Gonzalez, a junior at Valencia High, ended with a familiar result: 6-0, in less than 15 minutes over a bewildered La Quinta player. In 30 sets, Gonzalez's closest brush with defeat has been 6-2. In one set last week against Magnolia's No. 1 player, Gonzalez did not drop a point.

While her next victim patiently stands on Court 1, Jenny Gonzalez sits and chats with a reporter, not knowing that she is holding up her opponent and team competition. The first set for Gonzalez, a junior at Valencia High, ended with a familiar result: 6-0, in less than 15 minutes over a bewildered La Quinta player. In 30 sets, Gonzalez's closest brush with defeat has been 6-2. In one set last week against Magnolia's No. 1 player, Gonzalez did not drop a point.

In other South Coast tournament games: Foothill 10, Riverside Poly 6--Foothill, which lost to El Toro, 9-5, in the semifinals, improved to 5-2 with the victory over Riverside Poly (7-2) in the third-place game. Los Alamitos 10-7, Granite Hills 6 and Mission Viejo 6--Tim Sylvester had eight goals in two games, and Mike Aaronson made 19 saves for Los Alamitos (7-4). Costa Mesa 14, Tustin 8--Sam Grayel scored six goals for Costa Mesa and Marshall Bauerfiend had three for Tustin.

Los Alamitos, Jr. Volleyball / Middle blocker Los Alamitos advanced to its first Southern Section girls' volleyball title match and won largely because of clutch play by Laitsch. She had 20 kills in a five-game victory over Long Beach Millikan in the Division II quarterfinals and 21 as the Griffins rallied from two games down to defeat Huntington Beach in the semifinals.

Brea-Olinda tied Savanna, 9-9, in sets but won on games, 77-75, in the Orange League girls' tennis opener for both teams Tuesday at Brea. Rachel Buenviaje swept, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1 singles and Elizabeth Kozma and Beth St. Clair swept in doubles, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, for Brea-Olinda (7-3, 1-0). In another Orange League match: Valencia 13, Western 5--Jenny Gonzalez won, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, for visiting Valencia (7-2, 1-0).

For the second consecutive year, the top-ranked senior boys' tennis player in Orange County will not be participating in the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, which begins Thursday at various sites in Ojai. Ocean View's Jakub Pietrowski, who lost in the semifinals of last year's Southern Section individual tournament and would have been seeded first or second in this year's boys' interscholastic singles draw at Ojai, will not play because of obligations he made to his school.

In another Division II match: Edison 11, Marina 7--Tami Demaree and Michelle Turner swept their sets, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0, to lead Edison, the No. 3 seed, to the quarterfinal victory over Sunset League opponent Marina. The victory was the third of the season over Marina.

Before every Valencia match, scorekeeper Sandra Cardona highlights her friend Jenny Gonzalez's three singles victories in yellow ink. Cardona hasn't been wrong yet. But Tuesday, Cardona hesitated to highlight Gonzalez's scores before the match. "I was nervous," she said. "The team said, 'You better not highlight it, these guys are pretty good.'

Palos Verdes Peninsula, the top-seeded team in the Southern Section Division I girls' tennis playoffs, meets second-seeded Newport Harbor for the second time this season at 9 a.m. today in the finals at the Claremont Club. Peninsula (23-0) defeated Newport Harbor, 17-1, this season without Amber Basica, the top-ranked 16-year old in the nation.

If infomercial star Tony Robbins' power of positive thinking is good enough for King Coach Barry Melrose and goaltender Kelly Hrudey, then El Modena tennis player Brandi Freudenberg figures it's good enough for her. "A lot of people would be like, 'Oh, that's all just a bunch of bull,' but everything is really positive," said Freudenberg, who was sold on Robbins by Bill DeRango, her coach. "When you have a good attitude and when people feel good about themselves, they're always improving."

When flames broke out in his Chula Vista home early Friday, 17-year-old Manuel Cole knocked down two doors to rescue his mother and uncle minutes before the fire engulfed the house. Nobody was injured in the blaze, and his brother and neighbors are calling Manuel a hero for his actions. Manuel said he believes a cigarette started the fire in the master bedroom occupied by his mother, Marina Gallegos. When Manuel heard his mother screaming, he tried to enter the room, but the door was locked.