SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A TENNIS PLAYOFFS ROUNDUP : San Clemente Lineup Changes Pay Off in Victory

No one currently involved with the San Clemente boys’ tennis team is sure when the last time the Tritons were in the Southern Section playoffs.

In fact, third-year Coach Rob Hogrefe isn’t sure San Clemente has ever competed in CIF playoffs.

But the Tritons are making their first postseason appearance in who-knows-how-long a memorable one. A stacked doubles lineup and a sweep in No. 1 singles by David Roditi led San Clemente to a 10-8 upset over fourth-seeded Corona del Mar in the Division 4-A quarterfinals Tuesday at Corona del Mar High School.

The South Coast League champion Tritons (19-4) will play host to top-seeded and unbeaten Santa Barbara in the semifinals at 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Corona del Mar finishes 16-6.

“If this school’s been in the playoffs, it was a long, long time ago,” Hogrefe said. “But we played with a lot of poise and looked like we’ve been here all the time today.”

The Tritons lost to Corona del Mar, 14-4, in a nonleague match last month, which led Hogrefe to make adjustments for Tuesday’s rematch. San Clemente moved singles players Jeff Marsden and Daniel Roditi into doubles to offset the Sea Kings’ depth in singles.

The move paid off as San Clemente won seven of nine doubles sets, led by a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 sweep in No. 3 by Marsden and John Downer.

“I’ve been thinking about (the lineup adjustment) since they beat us,” Hogrefe said. “We practiced those guys in doubles last week to get ready for this match, and everybody played as well as I could have expected them to.”

Steve Johnson and Jeff Shoemaker won two sets in No. 1 doubles and Daniel Roditi and Jason Meyer also won two sets in No. 2, including a key 6-4 victory over Ed Bryant and Paul Fruchbom in the third round to give San Clemente a 9-8 lead. David Roditi then defeated Trenton Rhodes, 6-1, to clinch the match for the Tritons.

In other 4-A quarterfinal matches:

University 13, Mission Viejo 5--The No. 3 doubles team of Ali Esna and Ryan Spruston led the Trojans into Thursday’s semifinals against No. 2-seeded Palos Verdes Peninsula with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 sweep against Mission Viejo (17-5) at home. University (20-2), the No. 3 seed, also got a sweep in No. 2 singles from John Bowerbank, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Santa Barbara 16, Santa Margarita 2--Santa Margarita fell to top-seeded and unbeaten Santa Barbara at Santa Barbara and finished 17-5. Jason Scanlon won a set in No. 1 singles for the Angelus League champion Eagles and Rob Keyer and Kent Policky won a set in No. 1 doubles for Santa Margarita.

Palos Verdes Peninsula 14, Woodbridge 4--Second-seeded Peninsula advanced to the semifinals against University with the victory at Woodbridge (17-5).