Sea Kings dominate Sailors

CORONA DEL MAR — The doubles teams for Corona del Mar High have been perfect this season. They were perfect again Tuesday, when rival Newport Harbor came to their courts.

CdM’s doubles teams extended their winning streak to 36 straight sets.

The doubles teams helped the Sea Kings defeat Newport Harbor, 17-1, in a boys’ tennis match at Corona del Mar High Tuesday.

The Sea Kings (4-0) dominated both the singles and doubles matches as they seemed calm and collected. They appeared ready to play against the Sailors (2-2).

In singles action, CdM’s No. 1 player Ryan Peyton beat Newport Harbor’s No. 1 Tracy Beblie, 6-3. Peyton continued his dominance on the court, winning 6-0. CdM’s Shane Korber went up against David Lee and beat him, 6-2.

Korber mentioned that in his first match he missed a lot of first serves, and had to work on earning a lot of points on the second serve. Korber ended up also winning his second match, 6-0, against Beblie.

“The kid had a huge forehand,” Korber said after beating Beblie, who recorded the Sailors’ lone win. “It took time to find the rhythm on my return.”

Karl Fletcher, a CdM senior, got to play in a doubles match with his friend, Matt Fisher. They went up against Jason Cernius and Troy Arnold and beat them, 6-3. Fletcher and Fisher also recorded 6-3, 6-0 wins.

Fletcher got some playing time on senior day for the boys.

“It feels great to play with my friend Matt, I’ve known him for a long time, and we have good team chemistry,” Fletcher said.

It looks like all of the Sea Kings’ doubles teams are showing good team chemistry.

In addition to their perfect record, the Sea Kings also won the First Serve Tournament Saturday at Edison High. CdM’s top singles players were unable to play in the tournament, because players ranked in the United States Tennis Assn. top 150 were not allowed to compete.

CdM’s Blake Zimring, Daniel Anastos, Zach Williams, David Vu, David Fink and Paul Kacik went undefeated during the tournament.

It was Fletcher’s turn to win on Tuesday. With the team’s hot start, he has high hopes for the team.

“I love my team,” Fletcher said. “It’s important for us to do well. Our goal this year is to make CIF [Southern Section Division I] semifinals or finals and win the CIF championship.”

CdM Coach Brian Ricker was pleased that Fletcher played against Newport Harbor.

“We made today senior day and we wanted everyone to play today,” Ricker said. “It was a big deal for Fletcher to play today since he doesn’t get that much playing time.”

Ricker doesn’t really need to tell his players much apparently. The coach says his boys are self-motivated as they enter matches.

“Our depth this year in our doubles teams is key,” Ricker said.

Newport Harbor Coach Kristen Case, a former CdM assistant coach, was well aware of the Sea Kings’ talents.

“I knew how good CdM is and I knew it was going to be a tough match,” she said.

Case added that she told her team to focus on trying to build and improve.

“When you play the best, you get better,” Case said.

She also said the Sailors’ goal this year is to defend their league title and to build and improve.

The Sea Kings will play at Santa Margarita today at 3:15 p.m. The Sailors will play against Sage Hill on Thursday at The Tennis Club in Newport Beach.