Invitational Brings Out the Best

The lack of quality competition that sometimes keeps top junior tennis players from competing with their high school teams is unlikely to be a factor today and Saturday in the second National High School All-American girls’ tournament.

The 16-team invitational will include seven of the top 10 girls’ teams in The Times’ rankings and many of the top players in the nation.

Play begins at 10:30 a.m. today at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach and at four other clubs around Southern California.

“You talk about the best teams in California, and that’s some awesome tennis,” said Tim Mang, the tournament director and boys’ tennis coach at Newport Beach Corona del Mar High, the host school. Mang also runs a boys’ event--one that has included teams from throughout the country--in the spring.

The girls’ tournament, won by Beverly Hills last year, lacks national competition because girls’ tennis is played in the spring in states such as Florida, Arizona and Colorado. In others, such as Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, teams can travel no further than 500 miles.

Mang hoped Las Vegas Bishop Gorman would compete, but playoffs begin this week in Nevada’s shorter season.

Schools traveling the farthest will be Atherton Menlo and Pleasanton Foothill from the Bay Area and No. 3-seeded Torrey Pines of the San Diego Section.

Some of the best competition should come from teams located closer to home and loaded with nationally ranked players.

Corona del Mar, the No. 1 team in Southern Section Division IV and The Times’ rankings, is top-seeded. Palos Verdes Peninsula, the top-ranked team in Division I and No. 2 in The Times’ rankings, is seeded second, and fourth-seeded Beverly Hills.

Semifinals are at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Palisades Tennis Club. The championship is at 5:30 p.m. at Balboa Bay Club.