Boys tennis: Sea Kings edged by Harvard Westlake

Tony Altobelli

STUDIO CITY - A couple different bounces of the ball Thursday and

Corona del Mar High’s tennis team might have been on the road to the CIF

Southern Section Division I championships.

Instead, the Sea Kings ended up on the road to, well, Corona del Mar,

following their loss to host Harvard Westlake.

The Sea Kings and Wolverines tied in sets, 9-9, but it was Harvard

Westlake that prevailed in overall games, 82-76.

“In that first round, we lost two sets on late service breaks,” CdM coach

Tim Mang said. “We pull those out and it’s a whole different story.”

Despite the tough loss, there were a few Sea Kings (19-5) who dominated

their surroundings.

Brian Morton, CdM’s No. 1 singles player breezed through his first two

sets, winning, 6-1, 6-1, before putting together a strong comeback

against the Wolverines’ top singles player, Jesse Ferlianto.

Trailing, 4-0, and the team match still up in the air, Morton managed to

stretch the set into a tiebreaker, where he prevailed, 7-2.

“We knew coming in here that Brian had to win three sets for us to have a

chance,” Mang said. “He did what he had to do and did a great job.”

On the doubles’ side, it was the team of Cameron Ball and Hunter Jack

that swept the Wolverines, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3

“Hunter is just getting back into form from his leg injury,” Mang said.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do next year.”

Even with those six wins, the depth of the No. 2-seeded Wolverines

(25-3-1) was just too much to overcome.

Other winners for CdM were Shaan Wadhwa (6-3) and Ryan Stockwell (6-2).

“Both teams really tried to load up on doubles,” Harvard Westlake Coach

Keith Huyssoon said. “Both teams had convincing wins in some sets. Ours

was just a little more convincing, I guess. We both have a bunch of good,

hard players out there and we knew this thing was going to come right

down to the wire.”

For Mang, the calendar can’t move fast enough for next year. With the

exception of doubles player Robert Kennedy, the Sea Kings will have every

player returning for next year.

“It’s a very strong group,” Mang said. “We are a young group and we still

came within six points of returning to the finals. That’s not too shabby.

Next year will be even better.”

CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION I SEMIFINALS

Harvard Westlake 9, Corona del Mar 9 (Harvard Westlake wins tiebreaker on

games, 82-76)

Singles - Morton (CdM) def. Rosenfeld, 6-1, def. Gersh, 6-1, def.

Ferlianto, 7-6; Wadhwa (CdM), lost, 0-6, won, 6-2, lost, 0-6; Stockwell

(CdM) lost, 0-6, won, 6-3, lost, 3-6.

Doubles - Kulmaticki-Bean (CdM) lost to Gortman-Haldeman, 5-7, def.

Kahan-Orenstein, 6-3, lost to Frankel-Rubenstein, 3-6; Myers-Kennedy

(CdM) lost, 4-6, 5-7, 0-6; Ball-Jack (CdM) won, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.