Newport Harbor trio through to second week of CIF-SS Boys’ Tennis Individuals

SOUTH EL MONTE – The early rounds of the CIF Southern Section Individual Boys’ Tennis Sectionals can be somewhat of a mixed bag.

Every league finalist receives an entry into the tournament, and some are more prepared for it than others.

Make no mistake, the representatives for Newport Harbor High at the Whittier Narrows Tennis Center were quite seasoned in the realm of organized tournament play.

Five-star recruit Max McKennon took the court two hours later than he expected on Thursday.

A withdrawal by Sunset League champion Ethan Kolsky bumped McKennon up to the No. 1 seed draw line, giving him the bye that came along with it. Los Alamitos chose to replace Kolsky with Naara Shin, who took McKennon’s previous position in the bracket.

McKennon rolled through his second-round match. At times, the freshman gave off an aura that he was playing at half speed. He was content to place the ball for most of his match against Irvine Tarbut V’Torah’s Ethan Abelowitz, who had already competed in the first round.

Newport Harbor’s young star may have looked disinterested, but it is simply a byproduct of what the elites can do. They can reach back and find another gear, or three, when they deem necessary.

“I tried not to use all of my energy for all of my shots,” McKennon said. “It was kind of hard because in the morning, we got here at nine. I was supposed to play at 9:30, and it got a little delayed.”

McKennon won the match, 6-2, 6-1. He dug deeper into his arsenal against another talented southpaw in Rowland’s Jason Vuong.

Forced into extended rallies, McKennon was more inclined to demonstrate his weapons, including an ability to manipulate the ball with a high spin rate. He made visits to the net an uncomfortable experience by dipping his passing shots below the net, forcing his opponent to try to win the point with more than one good shot.

The tournament format calls for a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. McKennon is not a fan of those designs to speed up match play. For now, he would like to fulfill the wish of the tournament directors out of necessity.

“I, particularly, don’t like 10-point tiebreakers that much,” he said. “I always try to go in from the start and try to string some points together, start to win some games, and then it turns into the first set.”

McKennon notched a pair of straight-set victories, defeating Vuong, 6-2, 5-3 (ret. inj.) to advance to next week. Play will resume next Thursday at Whittier Narrows, with the lowest seeded eight singles players and doubles teams advancing from the five sectional sites set to compete in the Round of 32.

Upon winning the Sunset League doubles title, David Lee and Mark Schaefer qualified for the CIF-SS Individuals for the third straight year.

The Sailors duo has advanced to the third round of the tournament in all three appearances. The third time is the charm, as Lee and Schaefer broke through to the second week of the tournament for the first time.

Down 4-1 in the second set, the experienced Sailors rattled off four straight games to take a 5-4 lead and put the match back on serve. A series of holds sent the set into a tiebreaker, where Lee and Schaefer polished off a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Walnut’s Tirakorn Nanayon and Matthew Mai.

“We started out hot and just playing our regular game,” Schaefer said. “At the start of the second set, we got a little timid and weren’t really offensive. Then we just figured we’ve got to go for it. We’re seniors. This is our last tournament.”

Lee played No. 2 singles for the Sailors all season. This pair was put together to have a better shot at getting into, and having success in, the CIF-SS Individuals.

As a doubles team that was broken up for most of the year, Lee and Schaefer stick to old habits. When Nanayon and Mai took a defensive posture with both of them playing back on the baseline, it left the Newport Harbor seniors with questions about how to handle the odd formation.

“I feel like they adjusted more than we did,” Lee said. “We just did what we usually do. Instead of adjusting to their double-back, we just did the same thing and kept one back and one up. We should have done both up as much as we could.”

That may matter later, but for now, the ship has not sailed on any of the Sailors enjoying their extended postseason.

CIF-SS Individual Sectionals

At Whittier Narrows

Singles: Max McKennon (Newport Harbor) – 1^st: BYE; 2^nd: def. Ethan Abelowitz (Tarbut V’Torah) 6-2, 6-1; 3^rd: def. Jason Vuong (Rowland) 6-2, 5-3 (ret. inj.).

Doubles: David Lee/Mark Schaefer (Newport Harbor) – 1^st: BYE; 2^nd: def. Meet Patel/Julian Cruz (Gahr) 6-1, 6-0; 3^rd: def. Tirakorn Nanayon/Matthew Mai (Walnut) 6-2, 7-6 (5).

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