Unseeded Carrillo Wins 3 Times for Dana Hills

Dana Hills High was the big winner Saturday at Costa Mesa Tennis Center in qualifying for the Southern Section individual boys’ tennis championships--advancing singles players Javier Carrillo and Brian Kent and the doubles team of Jon Lippert and Brian Wilson-Hayden into next weekend’s round of 16 play.

The unseeded Carrillo had the toughest path as he won three matches--the last two over University freshman Henry Mak and Los Alamitos sophomore Drew Hoskins, who took Carrillo to three sets. The top-seeded Kent dropped only three games in beating Orange Lutheran’s Derek Bartlett and Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Rylan Rizza. Wilson-Hayden and Lippert, top-seeded in the doubles draw, lost only four games in their two victories.

Carrillo and Kent, both seniors, reached the round of 16 for the first time as did Sunny Hills junior Joseph Kao, who won his three matches in straight sets. Los Alamitos senior Cody Jackson, seeded second, breezed to his third consecutive round of 16, dropping only three games in two victories.

The strong showing by Dana Hills sends a strong message to Woodbridge, the Dolphins’ opponent in the Division I team quarterfinals Tuesday. Last year in Costa Mesa, Carrillo cramped up during his third-round match and had to default. He still doesn’t think he’s in great shape, but he’s playing more consistent tennis this time around.

“I wasn’t going to let myself cramp up again,” said Carrillo, who beat Hoskins, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. “This is my last year. It’s kind of special. My goal is to win the CIF this year.”

Kent, who lost to Jackson last year in the second round, was on his game despite getting only four hours sleep after going to the senior prom. He split the first four games with Rizza, a talented but highly emotional player, then finished the match by winning the last 10 games.

“At 2-2, he said ‘I can’t believe how bad this kid is,’ ” Kent said. “Right then, I said to myself I’ll beat this kid if I have to be out here 10 hours. That’s just a dumb thing to say.”

Kao reached the round of 16 at Seacliff Tennis Club with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Jeff Kazarian, who beat Kao two weeks ago at a junior tournament in Long Beach.

“I knew he liked the net, so I wanted to pass him early so I could keep him off the net,” Kao said.

Jackson had the luxury of playing University freshman Aaron Yovan, who was coming off a three-hour second-round match with El Dorado’s Sergiu Modoc. Jackson won 6-2, 6-0, in less than an hour.

“He started out strong, but toward the end he was sort of deflated,” said Jackson, who has never been past the round of 16.

Foothill senior Ryan Katzman’s best season ended with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Rizza in the second round. Katzman defeated Brea Olinda’s Ed Eum in the first round, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Notes

Joining Lippert and Wilson-Hayden in the doubles round of 16 were Michael Obradovitch and Samir Vora of Los Alamitos, David Nguyen and Brian Swatt of Beverly Hills, and David Gleiberman and Goh Fukugaki of Palos Verdes Peninsula. Obradovitch and Vora advanced by outlasting El Dorado’s Michael Peng and Charles Dao, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. Swatt and Nguyen defeated Sunny Hills seniors Raj Vyas and Davin Lin, 6-1, 6-2. . . . In the sectional at Pasadena, Corona del Mar’s Parker Collins advanced in singles play and the teams of Christian Jensen-Sameer Chopra and Brian Morton-Randy Myers advanced in doubles. In the sectional at Redlands, Woodbridge’s David Lingman advanced in singles.