Aliso Niguel Wins, Faces No. 1 Team

There was little excitement after Aliso Niguel won its first-round boys’ tennis match Tuesday, defeating Edison, 11-7, in the Southern Section Division II playoffs at Edison.

The Wolverines knew their next match would be on the road against top-seeded North Hollywood Harvard Westlake. It’s a match the Wolverines are not looking forward to.

“It’s disappointing,” Aliso Niguel junior Jason Mednick said. “But there isn’t too much we can do about it. We just have to work hard and do our best against them.”

The Wolverines (14-4) were eliminated in the second round last year by Diamond Bar.

“I wish we didn’t have to play such a good team so early,” Aliso Niguel Coach Rich Ruhlen said. “There are a lot of mediocre teams playing each other in the next round. I just wish we could, too.”

If the Wolverines have any chance against Harvard Westlake, they will need to get more points from their singles’ players than the four points they picked up against Edison.

Mednick (49-5), won, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2, but freshman Jeff Bui got the only other point in singles for Aliso Niguel, defeating Ryan Khalaf, 6-4, in the first round.

The Wolverines’ doubles teams were dominating, winning seven of nine sets, and showcasing some of the best tennis at the match.

With Aliso Niguel leading, 4-1, in the first round, Rockwell Allen and Ray Garcia took a 5-3 lead in their set against Edison’s Jason and Wesley Hall. After the Hall brothers took a 6-5 lead, Allen and Garcia came back and forced a tiebreaker before going on to win 7-6 (7-5). Allen and Garcia also won their final two sets, 6-0, 6-2.

In the third round, with victory assured and all the other matches finished, the Hall brothers continued to fight, battling to another tiebreaker, this time with Aliso Niguel’s John Balos and Conrad Turlik.

Down, 4-1, in the tiebreaker, the Hall brothers rallied again, and this time defeated Balos and Turlik 7-6 (8-6).

In other Division II matches:

Sunny Hills 13, Claremont 5--Richard Kim and Jimmy Chu swept, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, in doubles for fourth-seeded Sunny Hills (16-4), which travels to La Verne Damien on Thursday.

In Division I:

Capistrano Valley 15, San Gabriel 3--David Sherman and Ben Feiner won, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, in doubles for visiting Capistrano Valley (17-3), which hosts Diamond Bar Thursday.

Corona del Mar 16, Santa Monica 2--Sam Shahmardi and Curtis Ellmore won, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, to lead third-seeded Corona del Mar (18-1), which will visit Arcadia.

Dana Hills 18, Saddleback 0--Blake Wilson-Hayden won, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 for the Dolphins (17-3), who play Glendale Hoover in the next round.

Fountain Valley 12, Alta Loma 6--Ming Le swept, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, for visiting Fountain Valley (11-7), which hosts Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Irvine 15, Long Beach Poly 3--Junior Hadley Ogle of Irvine won his singles match, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1, to help lead wild-card winner Irvine (14-7), which next hosts Murrieta Valley.

Los Alamitos 18, Rancho Cucamonga 0--Cody Jackson won, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, to improve to 35-1 this season for the top-seeded Griffins (18-1), who play at Camarillo Thursday.

In Division III:

Brea Olinda 16, Hesperia Sultana 2--Senior Ed Sweeney won, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, in singles to lead host Brea (14-11). The Wildcats next play top-seeded Beverly Hills.

Canyon 14, Santiago 4--Sophomore Andy Tran won, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3, for host Canyon (13-6), which plays Wildomar Elsinore on Thursday.

Cypress 12, El Modena 6--Nikhil Daga won in singles, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2, for host Cypress (14-6), which faces Whittier La Serna on Thursday.

Foothill 12, La Quinta La Quinta 6--Andrew Finley and Seth Goodman won, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, to lead the doubles’ teams, which swept. The Knights (14-2) advance to play Garden Grove.

Garden Grove 9, Mira Costa 9 (Garden Grove wins in round robin tie break, 12-6)--Thien Huynh and Huy Hoang won a tie breaker, 7-5, to force the match into a round robin tie break for Garden Grove (11-8).

In Division IV:

La Quinta 11, La Canada 7--After losing their first sets, Huy Nguyen, Vu Ho and James Le each won their final two sets for host La Quinta (17-1), which plays Calabasas on Thursday.