Sea Kings advance to semifinals

The Corona del Mar High boys tennis team, on the cusp of an

undefeated season, knocked off visiting Foothill, 13-5, in the

quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs Tuesday

and will face longtime nemesis Peninsula in the semifinals Thursday.

“This is when it gets serious,” CdM Coach Tim Mang said, following

his team’s convincing 9-0 sweep in singles behind No. 1 player Wesley

Miller, No. 2 Garrett Snyder and No. 3 Spencer Reitz.

The University of Texas-bound Snyder, who will play Friday in the

Round of 16 in the CIF individual singles championships at SeaCliff

Country Club in Huntington Beach, normally plays No. 1 singles for

the Sea Kings (22-0), but opted to play No. 2 in this one.

The top-seeded Sea Kings, who won their national invitational

earlier this spring and are ranked No. 1 in the Los Angeles Times

Southland poll, have been eliminated by Peninsula several times in

the CIF playoffs, but this year appears to be different.

Mang said he will continue to use sophomore standout Carsten Ball

in doubles to bolster his lineup, since most schools stack their

doubles teams against the Sea Kings. Ball won the boys 16s open

singles title Monday at the Quiksilver tournament at the Balboa Bay

Club Racquet Club.

CdM led Foothill, 4-2, after the first round, then drilled the

Knights, 5-1, in the second round for a 9-3 edge. The Knights fell to

17-5.

Peninsula’s Panthers, who have been at home in each of the first

three rounds of the CIF playoffs, will travel to Corona del Mar on

Thursday for a 2 p.m. start. Peninsula is 20-3.

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CIF Division I

Quarterfinals Corona del Mar 13, Foothill 5

Singles -- Miller (CdM) def. Gonda, 6-1, def. Lo, 6-0, def. Meskell, 6-0; Snyder (CdM) won 6-0, 6-0, 6-0; Reitz (CdM) won 6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Doubles -- Warsaw-Saida (CdM) def. D. Himber-J. Himber, 6-1, lost to K. Roybal-Surfas, 2-6, def. C. Roybal-Katzman, 6-3; Ball-Roberts (CdM) won 6-0, lost 4-6, won 6-0; Nguyen-Gingold (CdM) lost 4-6, 6-7 (4), 2-6

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