Boys tennis: Showtime for Sea Kings

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - In an effort to more clearly identify some of the

top boys tennis teams in the country, the third Corona del Mar National

High School All-American Invitational will even host a team from Down

Under this year.

The latest hotshot in the 16-team field -- St. Joseph’s College in

Brisbane, Australia -- is seeded second in the event, which is Friday and

Saturday at various sites in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

After St. Joseph’s arrived in town Wednesday, its players hit balls at

the Palisades Tennis Club, the tournament’s headquarters and host of the

semifinals and finals, and then showed up at CdM’s Pacific Coast League

opener against Laguna Beach and hit with some of the Sea Kings after

their 18-0 win over the Artists.

“They’re missing their top one or two players,” said CdM Coach and

tournament director Tim Mang, who started the event under the auspices of

the National High School Tennis All-American Foundation, which he founded

in 1998.

Whether St. Joseph’s is merely providing pre-tournament gamesmanship

remains to be seen, but the third-seeded Sea Kings (8-0) should be a good

test for anyone.

University, the defending CIF Southern Section Division II champion,

is seeded first with a squad led by Aaron Yovan.

Corona del Mar, the defending CIF Division V champion, is led by

senior Cameron Ball, junior Garrett Snyder and freshman Carsten Ball in

singles and, in doubles, by the teams of Tyson Hunter-Essei Saida, Erik

Frisbie-Brennan Roberts and Wesley Miller-Bryan Warsaw.

Menlo of Atherton, seeded fourth, is led by Stanford-bound James Pade,

an all-tournament selection last year.

Two-time defending tournament champion Peninsula, which is down this

year, is not entered.

While not every national-caliber tennis team in the country is present

for numerous reasons -- some of them include travel restrictions,

out-of-season conflicts and economic hardships -- the core of the

tournament consists of perennially strong programs, mostly in California.

Joining the four seeded teams will be eight other teams from

California: San Marino, Mills of Millbrae, Jesuit of Carmichael, Clovis

West of Fresno, Monta Vista of Cupertino, Placer of Auburn, Rio Americano

of Sacramento, Campolindo of Moraga and Harvard-Westlake of North

Hollywood.

Four teams are from out of state: Horace Mann of Riverdale, N.Y.,

Brophy College Prep of Phoenix, Ariz., and Cheshire, Conn.

In addition to the Palisades Club, preliminary rounds will be held on

courts at Newport Beach Tennis Club, Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club, CdM

High, Park Newport Apartments and the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Corona del Mar squares off in the first round Friday against Mills at

the BBC Racquet Club at 11 a.m.

“Everybody’s excited,” Mang said. “Our kids really put it together the

other day against Woodbridge, and that’s good news going into this

tournament. Our doubles clicked that day and our singles did their

typical good stuff.”

CdM defeated Woodbridge, 15-3, after the Warriors had tied Troy,

Peninsula and Servite, three teams the Sea Kings defeated this year. “We

just trounced them,” Mang said.

Mang, a longtime former member of the CIF team and individual tennis

seeding committees, owns an overall record at CdM in round-robin matches

(the national tournament uses an eight-game pro set) of 184-30. He is

298-90 all time.

The tournament semifinals will be played Saturday at 1 p.m. at

Palisades, with the finals at 5 p.m.