Sea Kings fall in semifinal, finish third

Chris Yemma

The day before Easter Sunday wasn’t as kind as this season has

normally been in the past for the tournament-host boys tennis team.

The Corona del Mar national high school invitational three-time

defending champion Sea Kings were knocked out of the race for a

fourth straight title by eventual winner Santa Barbara in the

semifinals Saturday at Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.

The second-seeded Dons defeated third-seeded CdM, 6-3, and went on

to defeat unseeded Los Gatos (near San Jose), 5-4, for the tournament

title, arguably a national title.

The Sea Kings (9-1), knocked into a battle for third place with

fourth-seeded Woodbridge, rallied in their doubles sets to win, 5-4,

at the Palisades Tennis Club, staking claim to arguably being the

best boys tennis team in Orange County.

“It’s definitely a little disappointing,” said Sea Kings’ Coach

Tim Mang about not winning a fourth consecutive title in their own

tournament.

“I figured if we played really well, we had an outside shot at

winning it.”

The tournament, which started early Friday morning and finished

Saturday evening, provided a glimpse of what might play out come the

CIF Southern Section Division I postseason. And a shift in the ranks

could occur, as top-seeded and CIF top-ranked Harvard-Westlake was

eliminated from championship contention by Los Gatos in the

quarterfinals on Friday.

Woodbridge, ranked No. 3, and CdM, No. 4, are likely to flip-flop

when the next CIF rankings are released after the Sea Kings eked out

the third-place victory. Santa Barbara will either stay No. 2 or move

up a notch.

But a regular high school match could turn out differently in a

meeting between CdM and Santa Barbara, Mang said, as the tournament’s

eight-game pro-set format played to the Sea Kings’ disadvantage.

“With the other format I think we would do differently,” Mang

said. “Of course, that’s total speculation because you never know

what could happen.”

One thing was for certain Saturday, though. CdM’s doubles play

kept the team out of a fourth-place finish.

Down 4-2 to Woodbridge after all six singles sets had been played,

the Sea Kings needed a sweep for a victory, and a sweep they got.

Freshman Fabian Mathews and sophomore Ryan Caughren defeated

Jonathon Ormont and Nick Grishkoff, 8-4, at the No. 3 doubles spot

for the first set. Then seniors Wesley Miller and Matt Chou finished

up, 8-5, at the No. 1 doubles position, and it came down to a

last-set battle with the fate in the hands of senior Spencer Reitz

and junior Jonathon Kroopf. The CdM duo pulled it out, 8-5, for the

match.

If there was a 4-4 tie, CdM would have lost in games.

“Even though we won the tournament the last three years, it still

feels good to pull out a win like that,” said Miller, ranked No. 18

in boys 18s by United States Tennis Association.

“It felt like we were down and out after the first loss (Santa

Barbara), so I don’t think this finish was that bad. Most of our team

is new anyway.”

The marquee matchup between the two schools was between Miller and

Woodbridge sophomore Michael McClune, ranked No. 26 in boys 16s by

USTA.

McClune took the singles set, 8-5, but Miller avenged the loss in

the doubles match with Chou. McClune was paired up with senior

Shimpei Susuki.

Miller, McClune and Mathews were selected to the all-tournament

team.

CdM national invitational

Third-place match

Corona del Mar 5,

Woodbridge 4

Singles -- Miller lost to McClune, 8-5, Reitz lost to Susuki, 8-0,

Mathews def. Desatnik, 8-3, Chou lost to Fattahi, 8-4, Pham lost to

Mitton, 8-3, Caughren def. Tseng, 8-4.

Doubles -- Miller-Chou def. McClune-Susuki, 8-5, Reitz-Kroopf def.

Desatnik-Fattahi, 8-5, Mathews-Caughren def. Ormont-Grishkoff, 8-4.

Semifinal

Santa Barbara 6

Corona del Mar 3,

Singles -- Miller lost to Muller, 8-5, Reitz lost to Robertson,

8-4, Mathews def. Stein, 8-6, Chou lost to Ho, 8-3, Nguyen lost to

Williams, 8-4, Caughren def. Markowitz, 8-6.

Doubles -- Miller-Chou lost to Robertson-Muller, 8-4,

Reitz-Mathews def. Stein-Soulages, 8-3, Caughren-Nguyen lost to

Ho-Wons, 8-5.