Corona del Mar Tennis Is Relieved to Be Top-Seeded

Corona del Mar girls’ tennis Coach Tim Mang got a scare last week when he saw the Southern Section had flip-flopped his team and Palos Verdes Peninsula in the coaches’ poll. But Mang’s fears were alleviated Monday when Corona del Mar was named the top-seeded team in the Division I tennis pairings.

Mang said he called the section office and complained that his team had defeated Peninsula during the season, 11-7, and deserved to be ranked first. Fortunately for Corona del Mar, the pairings did not come out last Monday.

“They screwed up, but they corrected their mistake,” Mang said. “I was concerned because I thought we might have to play two fantastic teams in a row and I didn’t think we deserved that because of the way we played this year.”

The other fantastic team Mang is talking about is third-seeded Woodbridge, which defeated Corona del Mar, 10-8, two weeks ago. Woodbridge (16-3) will probably face second-seeded Peninsula in the semifinals. The Warriors lost to Peninsula but did not have their best singles player Adriana Hockicko for the match.

The road for Corona del Mar is still not easy. The Sea Kings (17-1), who open at home in Thursday’s first round against Fountain Valley (6-9), likely will play fourth-seeded Newport Harbor (13-6) in the semifinals. Newport Harbor, the Sea View League’s third-place team, lost to Corona del Mar on games this season.

Dana Hills, the county’s second-ranked team, is seeded first in Division II and will open at home Thursday against Corona (9-10), from the Mountain View League. Mater Dei (12-5), ranked seventh in the county, is seeded third in Division II and will open at home against Hesperia Sultana (7-11).

In Division III, Villa Park (15-2), the county’s fourth-ranked team, is seeded third and Laguna Hills (14-6) is fourth. In Division V, Laguna Beach (11-9) is seeded second.

All matches begin at 2 p.m. The finals will be Monday, Nov. 24, at the Claremont Club.