Corona del Mar repeats National Tournament honors

Bryce Alderton

For the second consecutive season, the Corona del Mar High boys

tennis team can lay claim that it belongs not only with the elite of

Southern California, but the United States.

This after the Sea Kings (10-0) made a convincing run to win the

CdM High fourth annual National High School Tennis All-American Boys

Invitational Team Tournament with a 6-3 victory over Monta Vista

Saturday night at the Palisades Tennis Club. This year’s tournament

field attracted not only teams from California, but also competition

from Hawaii, New York and Virginia. CdM defeated Punahou, from

Honolulu, 5-4, in a semifinal earlier Saturday.

CdM swept all three doubles sets to begin the final against Monta

Vista, from Cupertino, surprising competitors and coaches from both

sides.

“I wasn’t sure about the doubles at first, but once we broke them

once, we just took it from there,” said CdM sophomore Carsten Ball,

who teamed with junior Brennan Roberts to down Monta Vista’s Robert

Yee and Bastien Bartels, 8-3. Yee and Bartels are both ranked in the

top 30 of Northern California’s 18-year-olds.

The Sea Kings’ No. 1 doubles duo of senior Garrett Snyder and

partner Spencer Reitz made short work of opponents Ken Kao and Daniel

Lee, 8-4, on center court. Reitz and Snyder hadn’t played together

until this tournament.

Wesley Miller and Issei Saida teamed for an 8-6 victory at No. 3

doubles against Monta Vista (9-1). Miller said he was throwing up

earlier Saturday and felt fatigued, but he stayed to play singles.

But Bartels gained the edge with an 8-4 triumph.

“We didn’t expect to lose three doubles sets,” said Monta Vista

assistant coach Terry Cress, whose team has competed in each of the

four tournaments with its best finish (fifth) coming two years ago.

“(CdM) is the best team we’ve played by far this year.”

But CdM Coach and Tournament Director Tim Mang believed his

doubles teams could pull off three wins, meaning Monta Vista would

have to win five of six singles matches to win the best-of-nine games

format. Players compete in eight-game professional sets.

“I just threw Miller to partner with Issei and they pulled out a

close one,” Mang said. “I knew they all could do it.”

But Monta Vista, which was the Northern California champion last

season, didn’t give up easily when play turned to singles.

Kao proved better than Snyder on this night, claiming an 8-6

victory which gives the CdM senior his first loss in singles this

season (24-1).

“My groundstrokes weren’t as good tonight,” said Snyder, who will

attend the University of Texas in the fall. Coming into the

tournament, Kao was ranked No. 94 in the United States Tennis

Association’s 16s division.

Ball, ranked No. 11 in the Southern California Tennis

Association’s 16’s, continued his undefeated tournament run with an

8-1 victory over Yee and was joined by teammates Reitz (8-3) and

senior Bryan Warsaw, who defeated Ryan Chan, 8-7 (7-3).

Reitz took a commanding 5-2 advantage to elicit exuberant shouts

from the CdM fans lining the fence of the court occupied by Miller

and Bartels adjacent to Reitz. The Sea Kings needed just one more

singles win to claim the title after Ball’s victory.

Reitz fed off the encouragement, racing down a lob that hit just

inside the baseline before gaining his footing and sending Lee

reeling to the far corner to set up an eventual winning volley. He

raised his arm in the air as he walked toward his bag, sweat dripping

from his face.

“I had to get everyone going,” said Reitz about his vocal shouts

after winning a point. “I played my game, waited for the shot and put

it in. After that first game I thought it would be a long and

grueling match. (Lee) had tape wrapped around his left hand so I

tried to hit to his backhand. We all did our job in doubles and that

made singles much easier.”

CdM’s No.s 1 and 2 doubles teams didn’t lose a set in the

tournament.

“We’ve done this two years in a row as a team,” Snyder said.

Ball, Reitz and Snyder earned all-tournament team recognition.

Snyder has now been named to the team three straight years and Ball

is a repeat honoree.

The names of CdM players will be engraved on the Scudder Cup,

named for Jack and Valerie Scudder, who were avid supporters of high

school tennis for several years. The Cup will be on display at the

Palisades Tennis Club.