CdM tops Sage Hill
Corona del Mar High freshman Diego Fernandez del Valle wanted a line judge during his boys’ tennis set against Sage Hill School junior Adam Langevin on Wednesday afternoon.
CdM Coach Jamie Gresh told Fernandez del Valle to hold on. He and Langevin indeed had to wait for a few minutes. With two sets still on court in the nonleague match, all of the other Sage Hill players had left the CdM tennis courts. Gresh wondered aloud if this was normal.
“We didn’t know where their guys were, and we needed a line judge,” Gresh said. “The coach just said the guys were playing basketball ... I kind of like having the guys on the team deck area watching, having fun but invested in the match for sure.”
After waiting for a bit, Sage Hill freshman Emin Torlic came over to serve as line judge for the set. The rest of the Lightning eventually came back from playing hoops.
“I kind of felt bad for their teammates that were still on court,” said CdM’s Jacob Cooper, who, like his teammates, was also watching CdM substitute John Hart play Sage’s Steven Ferry on the No. 2 singles court.
To be fair, the match had already been decided. The Sea Kings proved a bit too deep for the Lightning, earning a 12-6 victory.
Cooper and Matt Paulsen swept at No. 1 doubles for CdM. Freshman Kyle Pham also swept in singles for the Sea Kings (13-4), who were able to rebound from a tough 11-7 Pacific Coast League loss to University on Tuesday.
On senior day, the Sea Kings honored their four seniors, Bjorn Hoffmann, Pedro Fernandez del Valle, Oliver Kim and Max Bui. Fernandez del Valle played at No. 1 singles, while Kim and Bui teamed up at No. 3 doubles. As for Hoffmann, he played in doubles with his brother, freshman Nik Hoffmann.
Pham earned his second singles sweep of the season, including an impressive 6-3 victory over Langevin.
“He stepped up his game, and Kyle’s been playing better and better as the season has progressed,” Gresh said. “When he’s playing with confidence and moving around, when he has that solid look like he’s really sure of what to do, that’s when he plays his best tennis. Kyle has great movement and quickness, it’s just a matter of keeping the ball deep and not being too passive.”
As for Cooper and Paulsen, it was just their second match playing together. The first was Tuesday, when they lost a tough tiebreaker in the second round that allowed University to take a 7-5 lead. But they rebounded to sweep Wednesday with scores of 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3.
“They kind of balance each other out in terms of temperament, and they’re a really solid team,” Gresh said. “The guys are really flexible with me changing lineups and kind of mixing and matching. I think that just goes to show that they’re good teammates and good friends. Sometimes change is good on the doubles court.”
Paulsen said it was really nice to bounce back from Tuesday with a sweep. Overall, the Sea Kings are improved this season, locked into the second spot in league after finishing fourth and missing the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs last season. This year, CdM is ranked No. 6 in Division 1.
“That was embarrassing, the first year ever that we didn’t make CIF,” Paulsen said. “That was not a pleasant year for us, but I think we’re really improving this year. We’ll make it this year.”
Pedro and Diego Fernandez del Valle each won once in singles, while Hart also won in the third round. In doubles, Bjorn Hoffmann won twice, one set with his brother and one with substitute Grant Brown. Kim also won one doubles set with substitute Ryan Wessler.
Sage Hill (11-4), which also will finish second place in the Academy League, got two singles wins from Langevin. The junior beat both of the Fernandez del Valle brothers. He topped Pedro, 7-5, in the first round and Diego, 6-4, in the third round.
Ferry earned the other singles win for Sage, with a 7-6 (8-6) victory over Diego Fernandez del Valle. That brought Sage within 7-5 after two rounds, but CdM finished strong.
The doubles teams of Kenan Torlic and Noah Koumas, Josh Watkins and Zach Washer, as well as Will Sanderson and Ian Huang, each won once for the Lightning.
“For me, this is a way of seeing how this lineup will look in the postseason, especially against a powerhouse like CdM,” Sage Hill Coach Mark Watkins said. “They can book us for next year. I think that the timing [of this match] is great, right at the end of the regular season. For us, going into the postseason, I think every level of CIF is going to be really tough competition. For us to be able to play a school like this with good guys and great players, frankly, I don’t come into it thinking we’re going to beat them. I come in thinking we’re going to be tested and see what we’re made out of. It’s a great preparation for the postseason.”
Sage Hill plays host to Whitney on Friday on its own senior day, before concluding league play on Monday against Oxford Academy in a make-up match.
CdM plays at Northwood on Thursday, before finishing up league play at Irvine on Monday.
