Southern California boys soaring in South Carolina

Carsten Ball, who will be a senior at Corona del Mar High this fall,

along with Newport Beach resident and recent Mater Dei graduate Kaes

Van’t Hof, each claimed singles victories to help power top-seeded

Southern California to a quarterfinal victory over Northern

California in the 22nd Wachovia Junior Davis Cup tennis championship

Sunday on the campus of the University of South Carolina in Columbia,

S.C.

Southern California, which defeated Southwest, 5-2, in the first

round Saturday, will face the fourth-seeded Southern section in one

semifinal at noon today at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center, a rematch of

last year’s championship match, won by Southern, 5-2. The Missouri

Valley section, seeded fifth, will face Texas, the No. 2 seed, in the

other semifinal. The final will be held Tuesday.

On Sunday, Ball defeated Jay Wong, 6-3, 6-3, while Van’t Hof, who

will attend USC in the fall, outlasted Brian Brogan, 5-7, 7-6 (6),

6-3, to help Southern California win four of five singles sets --

each match has five singles sets and two doubles sets. Van’t Hof and

Ball are ranked Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, in the United States

Tennis Association national point standings for boys 18s singles.

The Junior Davis Cup features 100 of the top boys 18s players

representing teams from each of the USTA’s 17 sections.

Each section selects six of its top ranked players to compete in a

feed-in draw of four matches over four days.