Boys tennis: Uni trips up Sea Kings

CORONA DEL MAR - After Corona del Mar High’s boys tennis team

missed playing Pacific Coast League rival University in last weekend’s

CdM National High School All-American Invitational, the Sea Kings and

Trojans squared off for the first time Thursday with visiting Uni earning

an 11-7 PCL victory.

Corona del Mar (10-1, 2-1 in the PCL), ranked No. 1 in the Southland

by the Times, lost a round-robin match for the first time in three years,

when the Sea Kings lost a controversial nonleague match to Peninsula in a

tiebreaker.

No. 2-ranked University (8-2-1, 3-0), which gained the upper hand in

the race for the league title, won seven of nine doubles sets.

“Our singles did what they had to do, but our doubles have to get

their heads on,” said CdM Coach Tim Mang, whose team won the third annual

CdM National Invitational with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Menlo

School of Atherton, which upset top-seeded Uni in the semifinals.

In singles, CdM senior standout Cameron Ball swept Uni’s vaunted trio

of Aaron Yovan, Jack Li and Henry Mak to lead the Sea Kings, who won five

of nine sets.

“Cameron was awesome,” Mang said. “He just went right through them.

Garrett Snyder lost a close one (to Li, 5-7) and Carsten Ball had a big

win over Henry Mak. Carsten played well. He’s just a kid, a 14-year-old

freshman, and he’s right there with all these guys in the 18s.”

Corona del Mar, which will take next week off, returns to the courts

April 9 to face Costa Mesa in a PCL match.

“You’ve got to lose sometime, and we lost to a very good team,” Mang

said of his program’s winning streak in round-robin matches, which almost

reached 80.

The Sea Kings’ top three players, Cameron Ball, Snyder and Carsten

Ball, will play next week in the Easter Bowl national junior tournament

in Palm Springs.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

University 11, Corona del Mar 7

Singles - Cam. Ball (CdM) def. Yovan, 6-1, def. Li, 6-4, def. Mak,

6-0; Snyder (CdM) lost 1-6, won 7-5, lost 4-6; Car. Ball (CdM) lost 4-6,

2-6, won 6-3.

Doubles - Warsaw-Miller (CdM) lost to Hsu-Lawrence, 0-6, def.

Joe-Scott, 6-3, lost to Haier-Chow, 2-6; Hunter-Saida (CdM) lost 4-6, won

6-0, lost 2-6; Freisbie-Roberts (CdM) lost 1-6, 1-6, 3-6.