Sage moves on

Two months after the opening of the new tennis complex at Sage Hill School, on Wednesday the Lightning debuted an LED scoreboard to go with it.

The scoreboard, perched at the north end of the complex, can display the score at the completion of each round, as well as the game count.

“To me, it helps involve all the spectators,” Sage Hill Coach Mark Watkins said. “Before, everyone comes to me saying, ‘What’s the score?’ You just would not know unless it was posted somewhere, and there you have it now in bright lights.”

Those lights showed a score in the host Lightning’s favor as they faced Dana Hills in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. Sage Hill used a strong start to help earn a 14-4 victory.

The Lightning lost the pre-coin flip and will travel to play Walnut in the second round on Friday. Walnut beat Bonita, 13-5, in another first-round match Wednesday.

For Sage Hill (14-4), the first round against Dana Hills (9-6) was key. The Lightning jumped out to a 5-1 advantage after winning some close sets.

Freshman Emin Torlic fought back from a deficit in the tiebreaker to earn a 7-6 (7-5) win over Tyler Bloom at No. 2 singles. And Sage Hill’s No. 1 doubles team of junior Zach Washer and freshman Josh Watkins earned a 7-5 victory over Dana Hills’ Riley McCall and Ryan Burns at No. 1 doubles.

Sage Hill junior Adam Langevin beat the Dolphins’ Marek Michulka, 6-3, at No. 1 singles, while Steven Ferry topped Kyle Alexander by the same score at No. 3 singles. And, at No. 2 doubles, Sage Hill’s Will Sanderson and Ian Huang earned a 6-1 win over Trevor Stephens and Bill Hoffman.

Langevin, who swept, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, said the hot start really helped the Lightning against Dana Hills, the second-place team from the South Coast League.

“Going into this match we knew it was going to be close, and it really came down to that first round,” Langevin said. “That first round was a real ‘make or break’ moment. Times like that are when it comes down to who wants it more, and it could have gone either way. We could have been very easily down, but our team just really wanted it.”

Langevin said he was impressed with how the freshmen starters of Torlic, Watkins and Ferry stepped up. Torlic’s older brother Kenan, a senior captain, had to miss the match due to school testing.

“We know we’d have to fight, because it’s postseason, and a lot of these guys are freshmen,” Langevin said. “A lot of them don’t really know what happens when you start to feel that tightness in your chest, that pressure. It’s really a different feeling that a lot of people don’t really understand. You could see it, they were starting to feel the pressure, and what makes a good player is the ability to fight through that.”

Sage Hill did more than fight through it. It took a 9-3 lead into the second round and clinched it early in the third.

Torlic and Ferry both won twice in singles for Sage, and Sanderson swept at No. 2 doubles in two sets with Huang and one with Arya Nanda. Grant Janavs and Noah Koumas also picked up a set at No. 3 doubles.

Facing Walnut on the road will be a tough challenge in the next round for the Lightning. Walnut finished No. 7 in the final Division 2 poll, while Sage Hill was No. 10. But Langevin is confident. Sage Hill is battle-tested after losing by two games to top-seeded defending champion Santa Margarita in early March. Sage Hill also lost by a single game to Academy League rival Crean Lutheran in the teams’ second league meeting.

“If Crean doesn’t make it to the semis, I’d be very surprised, and they’re ranked No. 9,” Langevin said. “The seedings are very off this year. I strongly believe that us and Crean, they should be ranked 2 and we should be ranked 3, or 1 and 2 ... we got stronger [from last year’s team that made the Division 2 semifinals]. I believe that we’ll be able to beat Walnut. We’re still going to have to fight, because we don’t know what to expect, but the difficult one is going to be [No. 2-seeded] Arcadia [in a potential quarterfinal matchup].”

Mark Watkins was a bit more diplomatic. But he also is confident that his Lightning can make a deep postseason run.

“All you can control is that you compete well and that you enjoy the experience,” he said. “With this team, because they’re loose, they’re relaxed, they’re having fun, I think that increases the likelihood that they play their best tennis. And if they play their best tennis, I will tell you, this is a team that could go all the way.”