SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS INDIVIDUAL PRELIMINARIES : Power of Persuasion Lifts Corona Del Mar Pair

With each of Tyler Stonebreaker’s wayward volleys and inept serves, Corona del Mar’s Jed Weinstein saw his high school tennis career slipping away.

But after nearly two sets of agony Saturday at Edison High, Weinstein decided to try and pull his doubles partner out of his funk.

“I told him I should be the one stressing out and getting upset,” Weinstein said. “I’m the senior. This could be my last match.”

Weinstein’s amateur psychology worked as Stonebreaker started hitting winners and began pulling his share of the load. And with the two of them playing well, they eventually defeated Canyon’s Jerry Liao and Heath Kula, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and advanced into the round of 16 of the Southern Section individual doubles tournament.

Weinstein and Stonebreaker, the Edison sectional’s top-seeded team, advanced along with University’s Robbie Wilkins and Jason Meyers, Villa Park’s Chad Smith and B.K. Chang and Burbank’s Phil Cano and Brad Warner.

At the time of Weinstein’s pep talk, his team was trailing, 4-3, and down a service break in the second set.

“I was nervous,” said Stonebreaker, a sophomore who transferred from Mater Dei. “Jed was the only reason we stayed in it. I had a lot of pressure on me. But Jed told me not to worry about it. Many things just built up, I guess. But Jed told me to relax, and that really helped me. I needed to know that.”

Stonebreaker’s sore shoulder and Kula and Liao’s excellent play didn’t make it any easier. During the first set and a half, Kula and Liao dominated at the net. Kula was nailing overheads, and Liao was hitting winning volleys.

“They were on the net,” Stonebreaker said. “They took the game away from us. But coach (Tim Mang) told us to start attacking, and that worked.”

Meanwhile, Liao said he and Kula began to relax.

“We took things a little too easily,” said Liao, who went 50-3 with Kula this season. “And we started going for big shots instead of just getting the ball in play.”

Villa Park’s Smith, who reached the round of 16 doubles for a second consecutive year, kept the ball in play long enough to beat Roy Kim and Jack Lui of Burbank, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, in the third round.

Smith had problems similar to Stonebreaker’s.

“B.K saved me,” Smith said. “My mental focus wasn’t there.”

In singles, Ocean View’s Jakub Pietrowski, Villa Park’s Ryan Hollis, Foothill’s Ryan Thompson and Newport Harbor’s Geoff Abrams advanced to the round of 16 without dropping a set.

Hollis, who wasn’t seeded, won three matches despite battling a severe cold.

“I had a lot of trouble sleeping (Friday) night,” Hollis said. “I had a real sore throat, and I couldn’t eat anything (Saturday) morning. I had half a pancake.”

But Hollis, a senior who teamed with Smith last year, regained his appetite by the afternoon and routed fourth-seeded Derek Munchow of Long Beach Wilson, 6-3, 6-1.

Friday’s matches at Seacliff Racquet Club begin at 1 p.m.

At Yucaipa High:

Cooper, Johnson advance--Trabuco Hills’ Nolan Cooper and Bryan Johnson advanced in doubles by winning three times, including a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Kris Mueller and Brent Masi of Riverside Poly.