Tennis History
THE HISTORY OF TENNIS AT GGHS
Tennis was initially played at GGHS as a school sport in the Spring of 1924. The Yearbook for 1925 noted that the Boys Team played “Tournaments” against Fullerton and Tustin High Schools and that the team had improved over its performance against Tustin HS the prior year (1924). Girl’s tennis was first played in the Spring of 1924. The 1926 Yearbook reported that the “Grove girls” participated in tennis the prior two years, and that “Hilda Arkley and Marie Everett, both veteran racket-slingers of standing reputation, were star players again this year.” “Practice meets” for the girls were held against Tustin and Huntington Beach High Schools that year.
The school has achieved considerable success in both its Boys and Girls programs. It has been characterized by long-tenures of coaches for both teams, including the those of Ibrahim “Pop” Eidleson (1931 – 1953) at the helm of the Boys team, Lisa (Dembecki) Sigaty as Girls team coach (1976 – 1992), and William Lou’s concurrent and ongoing stretch as the coach of both the Girls (since 1993) and Boys (since 1998) teams.
BOYS TENNIS
The first year of formal League competition against other schools for the boys was in the spring of 1930. The team was coached by faculty member A.T. Richardson and competed in the Orange League. The next year the school had its first league champions in the doubles pairing of Clyde Henry & Kenneth Wade.
Coach “Pop” Eidelson Era
Coaching duties were taken over in 1931 by Pop Eidelson, popular math and science teacher, who would coach the team for the next twenty-three years (except for three dormant years during World War II). Eidelson would lead the Argo squad to its first Orange League Championship in 1935 and capture at least seven additional Orange League Team Championships during his tenure. (Records are incomplete or missing for several years for this period.) Individual Champions during Eidelson’s years as Coach included Yoshiaki Yoshida & Frank Mori, League Doubles Champions in 1941 and Bruce Smith, League Singles Champion in 1947.
Coach Bruce Smith Era and After
Following Pop Eidelson’s retirement after 1953, the team had several coaches, including Robert Lawrence (1954 & 1956-57) and Paul Vornick (1955), and began competing in the Sunset League in 1956. Eventually, Bruce Smith would return to his alma mater and coach the team from 1958 through 1961. Under Coach Smith, David Blair would reach the CIF Southern Section Singles Finals in 1961 as a junior, before losing in the Championship match to defending Champion Dave Reed of Glendale HS. Blair’s advancement in the CIF playoffs is the furthest of any Argo, boy or girl, in school history.
As a student, Coach Smith earned 17 varsity letters at GGHS in five different sports, believed to be a school record. He would later teach and coach tennis at other schools in the GG Unified School District, winning a Boys CIF Team Championship in 1979 for La Quinta HS. He would later be named to the CIF Southern Section Hall of Fame in 2019, the only Argo alum so honored.
Coaches that followed Coach Smith included Edward Brown, (1962 and 1963); Joe Murphy (1964, 1965, and from 1967 through 1971); Richard Ensch (1966); Mason Long (1972 through 1979); Mike Rowan (1980 through 1982); and Smith’s son, David (1983 and 1984). The team won the Garden Grove League Championship in 1975 under Long and advanced to the CIF Playoffs in several years during this period. The school competed in the Freeway League from 1963 through 1966 and the Garden Grove League thereafter through 2018.
Coach Kevin Starnes Era
In 1989, Kevin Starnes took over the helm as coach and gradually built the Argos into a perpetual champion. After his first year of coaching in the Garden Grove League, Starnes led the team to League runner up and CIF Playoff appearances his next two years. He followed that with League Team Championships and CIF Playoff appearances in five consecutive years from 1993 through 1997. The 1997 team advanced to the Semi Final Round of the CIF playoffs before losing to Harvard Westlake HS by a score of 8-10, the furthest any Argo squad has advanced in the CIF Playoffs. Damon Robbins followed Starnes as Coach for 1998 and led the Argos to their sixth straight League Championship and CIF Playoff appearance.
League Singles Champions during this period were An Trinh (1995) and Andro Igancio (1996). League Doubles Champions included Jimmy Nguyen & Nima Vazim (1994), Rudy Henderson & Nam Tran (1995), Bryan Tran & Tuan Tran (1996), Bryan Tran & Tuan Nguyen (1997), and Kevin Kim & Jason Choi (1998).
Coach William Lou Era
William Lou took over as Coach of the Argos in 1999 and has continued in that capacity through 2022, the longest tenure of a Boys team tennis coach in school history. During this period, the Argos won eight Garden Grove League Championships, including five in a row in 2012 through 2016, and have advanced to the CIF Playoffs every year since 2001 (with the exception of 2020 when play was halted due to COVID restrictions), including the period starting in 2019 that the team has competed in the Golden West League. The team advanced to the CIF Playoff Quarter Finals in 2012, 2013, and 2015.
Notable individual performances during Coach Lou’s tenure include Cody Tran, four-time Garden Grove League Singles Champion from 2012 through 2015; Clifford Yook, three-time Garden Grove League Singles Champion from 2003 through 2005; and the Doubles team of Randy Ignacio & Long Nguyen, three–time Garden Grove League Champions from 2004 through 2006. Yook advanced as far as the third/quarter final round of the CIF playoffs in 2003 while Ignacio & Nguyen also made it to the third/quarter final round in 2005. James Ly & Andrew Tran, Garden Grove League Doubles Champions, also advanced to the CIF playoffs third/quarter final round in 2013.
During Coach Lou’s tenure, other League Singles Champions were Kevin Kim (1999), Nichlos Doan (2000 & 2001), and Phuc Ly (2010). League Doubles Champions included Marchelle Garcia & Hung Le (2000), Nichlos Doan & Clifford Yook (2002), Bao Vu & Thanh Dang (2003), Ted Do & Andrew Nguyen (2007), James Ly & Andrew Tran (2013 & 2014), Thomas Chu & Bryan Tang (2017), Gene Pham & Andrew Truong (2018) and Dylan La & Dan Le (2021).
GIRLS TENNIS
While girls tennis was first played at GGHS in 1924, formal league competition against other schools did not begin until the 1970’s. CIF singles and doubles championship play was held from 1922 to 1938, but not again until 1971. CIF Team championships were not held until 1975. By then, Girls Tennis was played in the fall.
Physical education teacher Barbara Decker became the Girls team coach when the school began formal play in the Garden Grove League in the early 1970’s. The team finished in sixth place in 1970 but improved to become League Champions in 1972 and 1973 under Decker’s guidance. Sharon Kuroda & Karen Takeguna were League Doubles Champions in 1974 and advanced to the CIF playoffs.
Coach Lisa (Dembecki) Sigaty Era
Faculty member Lisa Dembecki (later Lisa Sigaty) became the Girls team coach in 1976. She would continue to coach the team through 1992 and would lead the Argos to League Championships in 1983 and 1986. Under her tutelage, the Girls team qualified for the CIF playoffs at least seven times, advancing as far as the quarter final rounds in 1982 and 1984. Alicia Gallup was a multi-year League Singles Champion from 1978 through 1980 and advanced to the quarter final round of the CIF Singles Championships in 1977 and 1978.
An unfortunate story about GGHS Tennis is that of Tracy Hudson who played on the Girls varsity team all four of her years at GGHS, from 1983 through 1986. She was the team's #1 Singles Player in her sophomore, junior and senior years; played on the #1 doubles team her freshman year; and, with her partner Leslie Burke, advanced to the CIF Playoffs in doubles in 1985. She qualified for the CIF singles playoffs in her senior year of 1986 and advanced to the third round.
Not only was she a talented tennis player, Tracy was also a three-time CIF Southern Section Girls Singles Badminton Champion from 1985 through 1987. (She defeated GGHS teammate Thuy Nguyen in all three finals.) She was national Junior Champion in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in 1987. She had accepted a scholarship to Arizona State University and was set to compete to qualify for the U.S. National Badminton Team that fall. Tragically, Tracy was killed in an automobile accident on October 1, 1987, less than four months after her graduation from GGHS.
Coach William Lou Era
William Lou took over from Ms. Sigaty as Head Girls Tennis Coach in 1993, five years before he took on the same assignment for the Boys Team. He has continued in the capacity through the 2022 season. After two lackluster seasons, Lou coached the team to its first Garden Grove League Championship in 1995. Despite a fifth place team finish in 1994, the doubles team of Tam Dang & Quynh Nguyen was League Doubles Champions and advanced to the second round of the CIF Playoffs.
The team would go on to be Garden Grove League Champions for eight consecutive years through 2002. After a one-year hiatus from coaching the team, Lou returned in 1997 and has led the Argos to an additional 15 league Championships, including ten straight from 2012 through 2022, the last five in the Golden West League. The team has qualified for the CIF playoffs in all but one year since 1995, the year he was away from coaching the team, advancing as far as the quarter final round in 2005, 2012, 2013, and 2021.
Notable performers under Coach Lou’s tenure have included League Singles Champion Tina Tran (2005), three-time League Singles Champion Tiffany Huynh (2016 – 2018), and Amy Trinh (2019) plus League Doubles Champions Tam Dang & Quynh Nguyen (1994), Le Phan & Jamie Kong (1998), Jeanie Kong & Susie Sin (2000), Paula Nguyen & Nancy Nguyen (2002), Whitney Young & Catherine Nguyen (2007), Catherine Nguyen & Elizabeth Do (2008), Lindy Lee & Arlene Ho (2009 & 2010), Priscilla Tran & Sarah Ho (2011), Amanda Mai & Madison Ngo (2021), and Anh Tran & Abigail Chang (2022).
Written by Chuck Lake, GGHS Class of 1968
Last updated December 23, 2022