CdM moves on to quarters

CORONA DEL MAR — In a matchup of Sea Kings and Tritons, only one team would stay afloat Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs.

But the Corona del Mar High boys’ tennis team, the No. 4 seed, did more than just stay above water in a 15-3 second-round win over San Clemente at CdM.

The Sea Kings’ doubles teams continued their surging play. Sophomores Chris Damion and Parker Rhodes won two sets at No. 1 doubles, and Daniel Vu subbed in for a 7-5 win with Damion.

Seniors Josh Kim and Dustin Hladek swept at No. 2 doubles, and the No. 3 team of senior Hootan Mehr and junior Bryan Buchert won two of three sets.

All three teams helped the Sea Kings move into the Division I quarterfinals, where they will play Peninsula on Tuesday. The location will be decided by a coin flip on Monday morning.

“Doubles was great,” CdM Coach Tim Mang said. “I know we had to win at (No.) 1 and 2 doubles, and I was hoping the No. 3 team would win a set and they won two. That was really positive.”

CdM (16-3) also showed that its singles play wasn’t too shabby. Junior Brent Pham won all three of his sets, and junior Fabian Matthews and freshman Ryan Peyton each won two sets.

Matthews left after the second go-round for a match at the Anaheim Junior Tournament, but not before an impressive comeback against San Clemente No. 1 Blake Wardman. Wardman is ranked No. 27 in Southern California in the United States Tennis Assn. boys’ 18 singles rankings, while Matthews is No. 16.

Matthews was down a break of serve Saturday, but fought back from a 5-3 deficit to win four straight games for a 7-5 win.

“Fabian wasn’t really playing that well, but he was tough at the end,” Mang said.

Freshman Matt Fisher, who Mang said was a recent call-up to the varsity team, subbed in for Matthews for the last set.

Hladek and Kim are still getting used to each other, after becoming partners just a couple of weeks ago. But with Kim’s ground strokes and Hladek’s volleys, the seniors had little problem against San Clemente.

“We’re playing really good together,” Hladek said. “I feel like I know where he is [on the court], and I think he knows where I am, which helps out. We just have really good chemistry.”

So do Rhodes and Damion, who also had a match Saturday afternoon at the Anaheim tournament. The two are used to playing together in both tournament play and high school.

Damion had a service ace on the duo’s very first point against San Clemente, and it seemed to set the tone for a dominant morning against the Tritons.

“High school’s like a good warmup, I guess, for my tournaments,” Damion said. “It goes both ways. Sometimes my high school matches are more important than the tournament, it just depends who we’re playing.”

Hladek wasn’t worried about how much tennis Damion is playing, though.

“He’s a bear,” Hladek said, patting Damion on the back with a grin. “He can handle it.”

On Tuesday, CdM will see if it can handle Peninsula in a matchup of the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in Division I.

The Sea Kings beat Peninsula, 11-7, in the teams’ nonleague meeting on March 13, but Peninsula was without its top player, junior Tyler Bowman, ranked No. 25 in Southern California boys’ 18 singles.

Mang, always thinking about the matchups, explained what CdM will likely need to do against Peninsula.

“We’ve got to sweep their No. 3 singles player, and Fabian has to beat Bowman,” Mang said. “We probably need five [sets] in the singles, and five in the doubles.”

Hladek said he also anticipates a close match.

“We have a really good chance, for sure, especially if we play like we played today,” he said. “I definitely think it’d be a nice step to go the semifinals.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at [email protected].CIF Southern SectionSecond round -- Peyton (CdM) lost to Wardman, 0-6, def. Walkon, 7-6 (7-2), def. Ramadan, 6-4; Matthews (CdM) def. Wardman, 7-5, def. Walkon, 6-0, (sub) Fisher (CdM) lost to Ramadan, 1-6; Pham (CdM) def. (sub) Torasco (SC), 6-3, won, 6-3, 6-4.

Division I Playoffs

Corona del Mar 15, San Clemente 3

Singles

Doubles -- Damion-Rhodes (CdM) def. Stevens-Tisalan, 6-2, (sub) Damion-Vu (CdM) def. Gustafson-Houck, 7-5, Damion-Rhodes def. Jorgensen-Vasquez, 6-1; Kim-Hladek (CdM) won, 6-0, 6-1, 6-3; Buchert-Mehr (CdM) lost, 2-6, won, 6-4, 6-2.