Home opener on tap

If the Burroughs High boys’ tennis team hopes to have another fine playoff run in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs, it will have to accomplish that feat without two key players.

The Indians, who open the postseason at 3 p.m. Wednesday with a home match against Rio Mesa, have one player who is injured and another who is ineligible because of grades.

The biggest loss is junior Michael Whelan, who is suffering from a wrist injury. Whelan is a versatile player who can compete in singles and doubles.

“Michael’s wrist is pretty bad; we might lose him for the entire playoffs,” Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said. “And the player who was ineligible is from our No. 3 doubles team. So I’m going to have to shuffle around the lineup a little for the playoffs.”

Bernhardt and the Indians (10-2) are fresh from a Pacific League season in which they placed second behind champion Arcadia.

Rio Mesa (15-2) was also a runner-up in its Pacific View League, as Camarillo captured the league title.

“I don’t know anything about Rio Mesa,” Bernhardt admitted. “But we played Oxnard from that league in the playoffs last year.”

Burroughs will be led by a strong contingent that includes two accomplished singles players and a pair of solid doubles duos.

The team’s No. 1 singles player is junior Garrett Auproux, who won his second straight Pacific League singles title Thursday. Teammate Calvin Fox, a sophomore, was the league runner-up in singles.

In doubles, the team of senior Phillip Lam and junior Kevin Hoang came back to capture the league championship. The Indians duo of junior Wen Yao Lin and freshman Sawyer Patterson placed third in league.

“We had some really nice results in the league tournament,” Bernhardt said. “They guys did a very good job.”

Last season, the Indians advanced to their first-ever semifinal match, losing to eventual-champion Palm Desert.