Palisades High School Boys’ Tennis Team won the City Title on May 1.
The number-1 ranked Palisades Dolphins defeated Granada Hills 20 to 9 ½ on May 1 to win their 15th consecutive team title.
This win marks Coach Bud Kling’s 52nd City Tennis Team Title and his 69th title for Boys and Girls combined.
After the first rotation, at Balboa Sports Center, Pali had a half point lead. That slim margin disappeared when the Dolphin’s top two singles players Lorenzo Bruncow (a National All-American team selection) and Nell Joshi (defending LA CIF Singles Champion) came to the net and won decisive victories. Other Pali single players contributing wins were Tristan Kiperman and Rocco Weinberg.
Pali’s double players Caleb Scott and Max May won two of three sets. Number three doubles, Eli Koneck and Liam Findley won both of their matches defeating the Highlanders number one doubles. Double players Jeremy Ren and Dash Hansford also contributed a one-set win.
Since 2009, it has been Grenada Hills that has faced Palisades in the City Tennis Finals – a title that the Dolphins have not relinquished.
After the match, Kling, who collected his 31st title with the boys since 1979, to go along with 21 he has won with the girls since 1985, told Grenada that it was a pleasure to play them and that his team most likely would see them in 2025.
Coach Kling was featured on “SoCal Prep Report” on May 9 with Randy Rosenbloom and Tarak Fattal click here.. About 17 minutes in the video, after discussing baseball, Rosenbloom and Fattal, query Kling about his team’s most recent title.
“In tennis in the City Section, the playoffs have been dominated by the Palisades Dolphins and Coach Bud Kling had been the coach since 1979 and the girls’ team since the mid-80s,” Rosenbloom said. “That’s 31 City titles on the boys’ side and 21 on the girls.”
Fattal asked, “52 City Championships—do you have every one of the single trophies at your house?”
“No,” Kling said, acknowledging that they’re kept at the school.
Rosenbloom wanted to know how Kling, who has been inducted in the L.A. City Hall of Fame in 2017, has been able to sustain that record. He is the winningest coach in CIF-LA History (all sports).
“How do you reinvent yourself?” Tarak asked.
Kling said he goes to college tennis practices and sees what those coaches are doing, watching the drills and the warm-ups to see if they could be replicated for his players.
PaliHi is known for its top player talent and Rosenbloom stated, “It’s not always easy to coach the best talent.”
Kling said, “We had to manufacture a whole new lineup this year. Private schools are taking more kids.”
Fattal asked how Kling recognizes a potentially good player.
“When you look at kids what are things that jump out?” Fattal said. “What are the attributes, that make you say, ‘we have a special player here’?”
Kling was quick to respond, “natural footwork and the right psychological attitude.”
The show’s hosts noted that he coached from 1979 to 2024 and wondered what the biggest change in the sport has been.
“The number of high-quality teams in the City Section,” Kling said and explained that with the growth of the number private schools, many of them have seen players move out of public into private.
Since he coaches both girls and boys, he was asked which was easiest. “They’re completely different,” Kling said. “I enjoy that.”
PaliHi singles player Lorenzo Bruncow was a runner-up at the Ojai tournament that dates back to 1896. Coach Bud Kling is second from the left. Many of the greats of tennis have played in Ojai, including Bill Tilden, Tony Trabert, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, Pancho Gonzales, Alex Olmedo, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, Tracy Austin, Michael Chang, Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras.