SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION I TENNIS PLAYOFFS : Corona del Mar Beats Wilson, Faces Peninsula in Semifinals

Corona del Mar’s 13-5 victory over Long Beach Wilson in Tuesday’s Southern Section Division I quarterfinals was nice. But the celebrating didn’t last long at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Long Beach.

Even before the Sea Kings (20-1) had clinched the match in Long Beach, the players and their coach were looking ahead to Thursday’s showdown with second-seeded Palos Verdes Peninsula (23-0), which defeated Woodbridge, 18-0, on Tuesday.

“It will be a perfect match,” Corona del Mar’s Jed Weinstein said. “It’ll come down to games maybe.”

But Tim Mang, Corona del Mar’s coach, had a worried look.

“What concerns me is our No. 3 doubles team (Lars Hoglund and Doug Smith) was a little slow (Tuesday),” Mang said. “We usually win our close matches at doubles. We have to get the right mental frame of mind back at doubles.”

But Hoglund and Smith’s 7-6 loss to Marcus Hoffman and Derek Munchow, Long Beach’s No. 2 team, was the only slip-up for Corona del Mar’s doubles teams, which won eight of nine sets.

Wilson Coach Chuck Schafer said he had hoped for at least four victories at doubles.

He didn’t come close.

Rodolfo Prieto and Paul Fruchbom won, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4, and Weinstein and Beat Baudenbacher won, 6-0, 6-0, 6-2. Hoglund and Smith won their first two sets, 6-3, 6-4, before losing.

“Their doubles team was a lot stronger than we thought,” said Schafer, whose team had won 20 consecutive matches after dropping its opener to South Torrance. “They’re the best we’ve seen this year.”

Schafer said he was actually encouraged by his No. 2 team’s 7-6, 6-1 defeat to Weinstein and Baudenbacher in Saturday’s section individual tournament at Old Ranch Tennis Club in Seal Beach.

“We came away with the impression that they were human and that they could be beaten,” he said. “But you couldn’t tell it today.”

Corona del Mar’s second and third singles players, Trenton Rhodes and Ali Jahangiri, lost four of six matches. Brian Walden, at No. 1 singles, won his sets, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

Mang said everyone must play better Thursday.

“Our guys will play a different level of tennis against Peninsula,” he said. “Everyone will have to play great.”

In other Division I matches:

University 11, Diamond Bar 7--Robbie Wilkins and the team of Seth Turbow and Byron Turbow each won tiebreakers in the first round as the host Trojans won three of four tiebreakers to help University (19-3) to the quarterfinals, which plays Santa Barbara, a 17-1 winner over Beverly Hills. Diamond Bar finished 19-2.

Palos Verdes Peninsula 18, Woodbridge 0--The Warriors, the No. 3 team from the Sea View League, finished their season 14-7.