SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Tennis : Sunny Hills Takes Step in the Right Direction

The Sunny Hills High School boys’ tennis team had advanced to the quarterfinals of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs for the past two seasons, a notable achievement to be sure.

But this season, Sunny Hills is already one step beyond. The Lancers (21-1) play at Laguna Beach (20-3) in the semifinals at 3:15 p.m. today. The winner advances to the championship match next Wednesday against the winner of the Woodbridge-San Marino semifinal.

“Figure we’ve been to the quarters two years in a row, it was just a matter of time,” Sunny Hills Coach Steve White said.

White hopes this will signal a return to the glory days of Sunny Hills tennis. In the 1970s, the Lancers were routinely among the best in the 4-A division. They were the 4-A runners-up in 1976 and ’77.

The past two Lancer teams were good, but when Hans Erkelens showed up before the school year, it gave this season’s squad added depth. Erkelens, a senior foreign exchange student from Holland, plays at No. 2 singles and also has played doubles.

Add to that the unexpected improvement from doubles players James Choi and Brad Bosari and Sunny Hills has been able to advance to the semifinals.

“The other kids have been expected (to play well),” White said. “(Choi and Bosari) have filled in really well for us. They’ve given us some real balance in doubles.”

The “other kids” are:

--Glenn Henderson, the No. 1 singles player who “has lost three or four sets all year,” according to White. He has been the No. 1 player for four seasons.

--Ryan Henderson, a sophomore and Glenn’s younger brother, plays at No. 3 singles.

--Andrew Duncan and Jason Klingsberg play at No. 1 doubles. Choi and Bosari are at No. 2 doubles and Nathan Winn and Sameer Gavankar are at No. 3.

Doubles will be the Lancers’ strength against Laguna Beach, which has one of the toughest singles lineups in the playoffs, regardless of division.

Jon Leach, a sophomore, is Laguna Beach’s No. 1 player and is the defending Southern Section singles player. He is 54-0 this season.

“They’re just too powerful at singles,” White said. “That’s six points almost automatically.”

In the other 3-A semifinal:

San Marino (20-3) vs. Woodbridge (18-4) at North Lake Tennis Club, Irvine: Top-seeded Woodbridge plays host to San Marino, the two-time defending 3-A champion. Singles players Randy Ivey and Alex Steinhart of Woodbridge have reached the semifinals for the second season in a row. Last season, the Warriors were beaten by Los Alamitos, which was beaten by San Marino in the final.

In the 4-A semifinals:

Dana Hills (17-3) at Santa Barbara (23-0): Santa Barbara is top-seeded and unbeaten. Dana Hills tied with Newport Harbor, 9-9, in the quarterfinals and won on games, 73-72. The Dolphins are playing without top singles player Esteban Saba, who was suspended from the team for disciplinary reasons. Still, they’ve managed to get this far. Good doubles play, particularly from the No. 1 team of Chris Stevens and David Roditi, helped Dana Hills get past Newport Harbor.

Corona del Mar (19-4) at Beverly Hills (17-6): The Sea Kings also counted games to get past their quarterfinal opponent. They tied Camarillo, 9-9, but won on games, 92-88. Rich Han and Doug Schulein, the No. 1 doubles team, lead Corona del Mar. Beverly Hills, the second-seeded team, is led by No. 1 singles player Billy Wright and the No. 1 doubles team of Danny Roberts and John Parker.