Boys tennis: CdM’s Morton, Snyder catch fire

Steve Virgen

HUNTINGTON BEACH - After dominating their opponents, Corona del Mar

High’s Brian Morton and Garrett Snyder cradled their CIF Southern Section

doubles championship plaques, stood side by side and posed for a

snapshot.

It was easy to smile.

Without a serve broken in the title match and without surrendering a

set the entire tournament, Morton and Snyder won the CIF doubles title

with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Phil Sheng and Andrew Lieu from Thousand

Oaks, Saturday at SeaCliff Country Club.

“(Morton and Snyder) played at a high level and just stayed there,”

CdM Coach Tim Mang said. “In high school tennis, you’re not going to see

that type of playing anywhere, except for here.”

In less than an hour, Morton and Snyder controlled Lieu and Chang,

never allowing the Thousand Oaks tandem to gain any type of rhythm or

momentum.

The top-seeded Sea King duo seized the momentum in the third game of

the first set, then from the first game of the second set to charge on

for the win.

“That’s what set the tone,” Snyder said of breaking Lieu’s serve in

the third game. “All along, we knew if we gave them any type of

advantage, they would take control.”

The Sea Kings were on game-point, before the Lancers battled back for

deuce. But then Snyder struck for two winners, the 2-1 lead and

possession of the momentum.

If Game 3 of the first set was an indication of whose match it was,

Game 1 of the second set revealed the title belonged to CdM.

Sheng, a senior who won the CIF singles title two years ago and was

runner-up last year, served for Thousand Oaks to begin the second set.

Again, CdM reached game point as Morton challenged Sheng with solid

returns to lead, 30-0. Snyder then set up Lieu with a baseline lob shot

and the CdM sophomore smashed his return. The Lancers, however, struck

back to gain deuce.

But, Snyder came up with a return that found a sweet spot along the

sideline, just behind Lieu. Sheng then committed a rare error, giving CdM

a 1-0 lead.

“We just got off to a bad start,” said Sheng, who is bound for

Stanford. “We weren’t able to pick it up. It was tough to find their weak

spot when you’re busy being so cautious not to break again. They are

obviously a great doubles team.”

Said Morton, “I can’t say that (Snyder and I) were surprised (to win

the CIF title). We played well. We’re good friends and we flow together

on the court.”

The Sea Kings later broke Lieu’s serve again for a 3-0 lead, as the

Lancers committed a string of errors and double faulted for the loss.

With Snyder serving at 30-all, he put away a shot after the longest

rally of the day. Morton, who is bound for UC Irvine, then deceived with

a near-perfect drop shot on match point.

“This was just a great win,” Mang said. “We took care of one of the

top (singles) players in the nation (Sheng) and one of the best in

Southern California (Lieu).”

The Sea Kings entered the final match brimming with confidence as

Morton playfully teased Sheng while warming up.

Morton told Sheng: “Even if you play as well as you did then (in the

Easter Bowl), you’ll be lucky to beat us today.”

Sheng teamed with K.C. Corkery in the Easter Bowl and defeated Morton,

who was paired with Derrick Bower. Sheng enjoyed a hot streak and took

care of Morton’s team as well as the pairing of Snyder and Peter Farkas.

Morton and Snyder reached the finals with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over

Damien’s Emil and Thomas Novack, in the morning. The Novacks managed to

break Morton’s serve, but that was about the only bright spot for the

Spartans, Mang said.

Morton and Snyder have suffered just one loss this season as they

conclude their doubles duty. They fell to Peninsula’s Teige Sullivan and

Jeff Kazarian in the doubles final of the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.

They are expected to return to singles when the Sea Kings battle

Brentwood in the CIF Division V team championship match Wednesday at

11:30 a.m. at the Claremont Club.

Snyder, who won his first CIF title, is a combined 48-1 in singles and doubles matches this year.