CdM’s Hoffmann, Fernandez del Valle advance
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES — Corona del Mar High senior Bjorn Hoffmann received a big honor Tuesday night, when he was named the Southern California MVP at the National High School Tennis All-American banquet.
Part of being an MVP is finding a way when you’re not at your best. Two days after receiving the award, Hoffmann did that Thursday at Jack Kramer Tennis Club.
The Cal-bound Hoffmann had been battling a fever, but he found a way to advance in the CIF Southern Section Individuals singles tournament. After a first-round bye, Hoffmann beat Nathan Benyowitz of Shalhevet High, 6-0, 6-4. He then got past Parth Sharma of West Torrance, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the CIF Individuals round of 16 next Friday at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
CdM senior Pedro Fernandez del Valle also moved on. He also received a first-round bye and then beat Ryan Gee of Laguna Beach, 6-1, 6-1. Fernandez del Valle then topped lefty Kirun Cheung of Santa Monica, 6-1, 6-0. He will wait to see if he has to play in the round of 32 on Thursday at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center on Thursday, or if he also advances straight through to the round of 16.
Newport Harbor’s doubles team of juniors David Lee and Mark Schaefer also had an impressive run. They beat Mason Lebby and Taylor Sokovich of Laguna Beach, 6-1, 6-0, in the first round before getting past Austin Gee and Nikil Adarkar of Pasadena Poly, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round.
Lee and Schaefer then battled before losing to the top-seeded team of Daunte Harris and Dariush Jalali from Peninsula, 6-3, 6-4, in the third round.
For Hoffmann, the goal was just to make it through, and he accomplished that. The Pacific Coast League singles champion hopes to make another deep run in CIF Individuals after making the quarterfinals last year.
He fell behind a break of serve early in his third-round match against Sharma, but rallied to take it without too much trouble. Still, there were challenges. On one side of the court, both players had trouble serving as they battled the early-afternoon sun.
“I had a fever last night, and I doped myself up pretty good this morning with Advil,” Hoffmann said. “I mean, I feel good enough to play. I’m proud of myself for getting through today and pushing myself to play.
“I didn’t think I played great, and I didn’t think he played great. I’m just glad I got through it and took care of business, I guess.”
Fernandez del Valle, bound for the University of Denver, battled some stiffness in his right hip prior to his third-round match. But he stretched it out and had little trouble against Cheung.
“I felt like I played pretty well,” Fernandez del Valle said. “The first match, I kind of had a slow start, but I ended up winning both matches pretty easily … [Cheung] was a pretty good player. He just missed a lot on his backhand. He had a very strong forehand, but I just kept consistent, played smart and avoided his big forehand.”
For the Sailors’ Lee and Schaefer, it was the second year in a row that they made the third round at CIF Individuals. But this year was a bit different, as they only played six doubles sets together during the season, all of them coming in Newport Harbor’s two Sunset League matches against Los Alamitos.
“Last year we played doubles throughout the whole season and we played really well,” Lee said. “It was kind of nice to get out again and play.”
They were broken just once in each set against Peninsula, but that was enough for the Panthers’ Harris and Jalali to pull out the win. Yet for Lee and Schaefer, it was a promising postseason run. They were Sunset League finalists before falling to a team from Fountain Valley, 10-8, in a super-tiebreaker.
And, there is hope that they could make a more extended run next year at CIF Individuals as seniors.
“That’s the dream,” Schaefer said.
