Redlands tops Sage Hill, 10-8, in CIF Division 2 semifinal

REDLANDS — Founded in 1891, Redlands High is the oldest public high school in California. But the Terriers have never enjoyed a boys’ tennis roll more successful than the one that continued Wednesday.

Redlands defeated Sage Hill, 10-8, in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. The Terriers (22-1) won their 22^nd straight match to advance to the section title match for the fourth straight season.

Sage Hill (16-2) was eliminated in the semifinals for the second time in three seasons, despite a sweep at No. 2 singles by sophomore Emin Torlic.

Torlic was the lone Lightning player to produce three points, as senior Adam Langevin won two sets at No. 1 singles and the No. 2 doubles tandem of Steven Ferry and Ian Huang also won two sets.

Torlic capped his sweep by trouncing Redlands’ No. 1 player, Adam Comadena, a junior who topped Langevin 6-2 in a first round that ended with the teams tied 3-3.

Torlic, who paired with Ferry to win the Academy League doubles crown, defeated Comadena 6-2. He defeated No. 2 Brysl Libao 6-3, and handled No. 3 Drew Smith 6-0.

Langevin, the Academy League singles champion, topped Libao 6-1 and took care of Smith 6-1, while Sage Hill freshman Rohun Krishan, the league singles runner-up, earned a 6-2 win over Smith for his only triumph.

Ferry and partner Huang defeated the top two Terriers duos 6-0, 6-1. But Redlands’ No. 3 pair of Jay Swanson and Christian Lensang defeated Ferry and Huang 6-4 in a crucial second-round match that Lightning Coach Zoran Korac said helped turn the tide for the host Terriers.

Redlands, which won the last two CIF-SS Division 4 titles after a runner-up finish in the same division in 2014, swept at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.

“Emin was the star for us with his sweep,” Korac said. “After Comadena beat [Langevin], I didn’t expect that to happen. But I knew [Torlic] was fighting hard and he has had a pretty good month playing singles.”

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