DIVISION I BOYS’ TENNIS : Dana Hills Proves Itself Again

For the second consecutive match, Dana Hills was facing a Sea View League opponent it had already defeated. And for second consecutive time, Dana Hills’ David Bailey heard the same talk.

“We’ve been dealing with the same attitude for a week now,” Bailey said. “Well, we wanted to turn that attitude around. Woodbridge and University were saying they lost because they didn’t play their best. They lost because we’re a good team and we’re talented.”

The Dolphins’ superior talent was evident from the start Tuesday. They led, 6-1, after the first round and ran away with a 14 1/3-6 2/3 victory over University in a Southern Section Division I boys’ tennis quarterfinal at Dana Hills.

Third-seeded Dana Hills (22-0) will play Palos Verdes Peninsula, an 11-10 winner over Diamond Bar, in Thursday’s semifinals at a site to be determined. Bailey said he isn’t worried.

“We’re in this for the long haul,” said Bailey, who with his partner Christian Spaulding swept three doubles sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. “We’re looking to win this thing. I think we can go all the way. I’m sure this (score) is going to scare them. They’re going to look at these scores and go, “Oh, God.’ ”

The scores of the first-round sets were close, but Dana Hills won all but one of them--a Jason Meyers 6-3 victory over the Dolphins’ Brandon Fallon.

“Their guys were really fired up,” University Coach Josh Davis said. “Psychologically, that first round affected us, but to our guys’ credit, they came back and played tough in the second round.”

Tough, but not good enough. Dana Hills won four of six sets in the second round and clinched the match on Fallon’s 7-6 (7-2) victory over Raja Kapadia. After two rounds, Dana Hills had scored only a third of a point less than it did in the entire first meeting with University (18-5).

After two rounds, the Dolphins had won all six doubles sets. In the last round, Dana Hills dropped two of three meaningless doubles sets.

“I thought it was going to be really close,” Bailey said. “There’s a lot of talent out here.”

However on Tuesday, Davis acknowledged that Dana Hills owned most of it.

“They’re a really good team,” Davis said. “They’ve got a great opportunity to get to the finals.”

In another Division I match:

Beverly Hills 16, Mission Viejo 5--Fernando Machuca and Christian Fernandez won two of their three doubles sets for Mission Viejo. Machuca and Fernandez won, 6-2, 6-3. The Diablos finish the season 11-9.