Burbank tennis’ Orellana earns spot in league semifinals

PASADENA — It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination for Kevin Orellana in the first two rounds of the Pacific League Tournament on Monday at Pasadena High.

Orellana, a senior singles player on the Burbank High boys’ tennis team, had a convincing first-round victory before encountering a much more difficult second-round test.

The fourth-seeded Orellana ultimately dispatched fifth-seeded Eric Kim of Crescenta Valley, 6-3, 7-6 (10-3), in a second-round match to advance to the semifinals, which will start at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the same venue.

“He didn’t have much trouble in the first round,” said Burbank assistant Kenneth Banares, referring to Orellana securing a 6-1, 6-0 win against 13th-seeded Cecilio Perez of Crescenta Valley. “In the second round, it just seemed to keep going back and forth and he really had to work hard by grinding things out.

“I’m glad to see him hold his ground and be able to keep playing.

“On Wednesday, it will be about him going out and having fun. Lets see what he’ll be able to do.”

Orellana will make his second semifinal appearance in four seasons and will take on top-seeded Charles Deng of Arcadia. The other semifinal singles match will feature second-seeded Jonathan Figueira of Arcadia against third-seeded Jonathan Frink of Crescenta Valley.

Orellana, who helped Burbank finish third in league behind Arcadia and Crescenta Valley to earn a CIF playoff spot, was the lone local athlete to march to the semifinals.

One singles player and three doubles teams qualified for the second round.

In singles, sixth-seeded Kendrick Marcy of Burroughs posted a 6-0, 6-0 first-round win against 11th-seded Eric Jiang of Arcadia before seeing Frink rally for a 3-6, 6-0, 10-3 win.

In doubles, ninth-seeded Steven Zhang and Kiet Hoang of Burroughs started off with a 2-6, 7-5, 10-3 win against eighth-seeded Mark Belosludtsev and Anton Belosludtsev of Hoover and then lost, 6-0, 6-0, to top-seeded Brian Kim and Subham Dikhit of Arcadia. Sixth-seeded John Hoang and Peter Vu of Burroughs opened with a 6-1, 6-3 win against 11th-seeded Melvin Issaei and Michael Tufenkchian of Glendale before seeing third-seeded Kevin Rowe and Charlie Kim of Crescenta Valley secure a 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 victory. Seventh-seeded James Lee and Luciano Dapuetto of Burbank fell to second-seeded Jun Nakmine and Nicholas Figueira, 6-0, 6-0. Lee and Luciano, who started the season in singles, began with a 6-1, 6-4 win against 10th-seeded Amos Ro and Jun Moon of Crescenta Valley.

Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said the playoff-bound Indians, who took fourth in league, received some good efforts.

“I’m happy with the way we played and were able to get some players to the second round,” Bernhardt said. “We had some players pick up some real good experience and we’ll look to use that in the playoffs.”

Elsewhere in singles, 12th-seeded Haze Martin of Burroughs dropped a 6-1, 6-2 defeat against Kim, 14th-seeded Arsh Zahed of Burbank fell, 6-1, 6-0, to Frink, 15th-seeded Bryan Ortiz of Burbank lost, 6-0, 6-2, to Figueira and 16th-seeded Nathan Soria lost, 6-0, 6-0, to Deng.

In doubles, 14th-seeded Alejandro Ramos and Emory Kim of Burbank fell to third-seeded Kevin Rowe and Charlie Kim of Crescenta Valley, 6-0, 6-2, 15th-seeded Rafael Munguia and Patrick Suarez of Burroughs lost, 6-0, 6-0, to Nakmine and Figueira and 16th-seeded Jacob Sugar and Harout Abgamyan of Burbank fell, 6-0, 6-0, to Kim and Dikhit.

The doubles semifinals will consist of Kim and Dikhit against fifth-seeded Kevin Yang and Jimmy Liu of Arcadia and Nakmine and Figueira versus Rowe and Kim. The finals will be held in singles and doubles shortly after.

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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich