Sea Kings serve up portion of revenge

NEWPORT BEACH ? The boys’ tennis match between Santa Barbara High and Corona del Mar High took on more significance than a contest between the host and the defending champion of the National High School Tennis All-American Boys’ Team Invitational.

For one, the Dons happened to beat the Sea Kings in the semifinals of last year’s tournament on the way to winning the championship. This season, both teams are ranked in the top six by the CIF Southern Section in Division I, making the two possible playoff opponents.

Santa Barbara reminded Corona del Mar of that fact after being defeated by the Sea Kings, 5-4, in a second-round match at Park Newport on Friday.

“They said, ‘We’ll see you in CIF,” Corona del Mar Coach Tim Mang said with a smile.

Mang was smiling because the match had played out just how he planned it. He figured the pieces would fall into place as long as Corona del Mar finished the six singles matches with at least a 3-3 tie. The Sea Kings did just that and proceeded to take two of three doubles matches.

“I told them if we could get it to 3-3, we’d take the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches,” Mang said.

The No. 1 doubles team matched the Sea Kings’ top two singles players in sophomore Fabian Matthews and senior Jonathan Kroopf. The duo went on to win 8-3.

“Really, Fabian and anybody is going to do well,” Mang said. “And Jon puts the ball away well.”

Ryan Caughren and Dustin Hladek did double duty, playing No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively, and No. 3 doubles. The two are normally the Sea Kings’ No. 1 doubles team.

“We play very well together,” Hladek said. “Ryan is a very consistent player. He hits it long and wide, I just have to stay in the back. He’s a very fast player.”

Matthews’ victories against Santa Barbara capped off a day that began with an 8-1 victory over Will Guzick in Corona del Mar’s 7-2 first-round victory over Christ Church Episcoal School of Greensville, S.C. Guzick was ranked No. 40 in the nation by the U.S. Tennis Assn. among players 18-and-under.

Matthews said he did not mind the pressure of being expected to win a singles and doubles match each time out.

“Everyone is depending on me,” Matthews said. “It was fun. Jon did all the work [in doubles].”

Santa Barbara defeated Corona del Mar on its way to the tournament championship last year, making for a growing rivalry, but don’t expect Mang to show his emotions, at least not if anybody is watching.

“You’ve got to show your players you’re cool,” Mang said. “Then you go around the corner and scream. I show all positive, they need that, so they can be calm under pressure. It’s a great rivalry. We like to get at each other.”

Next, Corona del Mar will face another Division I top-five team I in Dana Hills in today’s semifinals at 11 a.m. at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club. The winner moves on to the 3 p.m. finals at the Palisades Tennis Club.