SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS PLAYOFFS : Dana Hills Beats Corona del Mar After No. 1 Singles Victory

Ben Stevens came back to defeat Dave Bain in a tie-breaker, leading Dana Hills High School to a 10-8 victory over Corona del Mar in a semifinal match of the Southern Section 4-A tennis playoffs Thursday at Corona del Mar.

Dana Hills led, 9-8, and the match came down to the No. 1 singles match between Stevens and Bain. Bain had a match point at 5-1, and a victory would have tied the team score at nine games each with Corona del Mar ahead in games (80-79). But Stevens came back to tie the match at 6-6 and won, 7-6, after 12 deuce points.

When Stevens won two consecutive games to make the score 5-3, Dana Hills had clinched the match. Even if Bain won, the Dolphins would have had the edge in total games.

“When Stevens won the third game, they knew they had it won,” Corona del Mar Coach Gary Salazar said, “but it was just an incredibly well-played match by both teams.”

Stevens was the only player to sweep his matches (6-3, 6-4, 7-6) for second-seeded Dana Hills (22-0).

In doubles, Ken Alston and Marshall Solomon swept, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3, and Alex McClintock and Trenton Rhodes swept, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, for third-seeded Corona del Mar (22-3).

In 3-A Division semifinals:

San Marino 10, Laguna Beach 8--Kevin Wang and Spencer Sabo defeated Bobby Nichols and Matt White, 6-3, in doubles to clinch the match for host San Marino (20-0). Laguna Beach (18-6) was led by junior Jon Leach, who swept 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, and Lee Kirner, who swept 6-0, 6-3, 6-3. Leach finishes the season with a record of 63-0 and Kirner finishes 56-1. Leach will graduate a year early this June with a high school career record of 191-1.

Woodbridge 10, Sunny Hills 8--Visiting Woodbridge (21-3) won all six matches in the first round and three of six in the second and needed to win just one in the third round. The Warriors’ Brett Isaacman and Raza Nilforoushan won 7-5, 0-6, 6-4, in the deciding match.