Corona del Mar boys’ tennis earns big win over Peninsula
Niels Hoffmann sprinted toward the first doubles court at Corona del Mar High, just as fast as he would sprint toward the net if an opponent hit a drop shot.
The Corona del Mar High boys’ tennis junior had a busy Wednesday. Prior to the Sea Kings’ big nonleague match against Palos Verdes Peninsula, he was playing in a UTR tournament at the Tennis Club Newport Beach.
He was edged 7-6, 7-5, at that event, CdM coach Jamie Gresh said. The match ended at around 2:50 p.m., about 10 minutes before the high school match was set to begin.
“Our guys are streaming it, too,” Gresh said. “They’re watching in warm-up. Peninsula is like, ‘Is he going to come? Is he going to be here?’”
Hoffmann showed up just as introductions got underway. On the court, he certainly made his presence known.
He swept in singles as the Sea Kings earned a 10-8 victory over the Panthers in a battle of CIF Southern Section Division 1 powers.
Corona del Mar (12-3) is ranked No. 4 in Division 1, with Peninsula at No. 2. But those rankings could change.
“It takes a team win,” Gresh said. “We got six singles sets and four doubles, and I felt like that was the formula in talking to [assistant] coach Alastair [Hurry]. I knew doubles was going to be tough.”
Junior Jack Cross won twice in singles for the Sea Kings. The doubles teams of Ansel Lee and Ivan Pflueger, as well as Jonathan Hinkel and Roger Geng, also won twice.
CdM, which had lost to Peninsula in the quarterfinals of the National High School All-American Tournament in a different format, took a 4-2 sets lead after the first round on Wednesday.
Their lead was trimmed to 7-5 after the second round, after Peninsula’s Colin Bringas and Eddie Feuer edged CdM’s Jack Knox and Tristan Pham 7-6 (9-7) in a tiebreaker.
Gresh knew the third set doubles matchups favored Peninsula. Chris Koeberle and Kyle Shigekawa swept at No. 1 doubles for the visitors.
But Cross came back from a loss to Peninsula No. 1 player Sean Ferguson in the second round, beating Takehiro Shuda 6-3 in the third round for an important singles point.
“You can bend a little bit, but if you break, then the whole team can break,” Gresh said. “If Jack carries the second set loss into the third round, we might have lost on games.”
Instead, Lee and Pflueger clinched the match with the 10th set win.
“Especially after losing the second set, we just had to believe and come in and win the third set,” Lee said. “At the beginning [of the season] we didn’t perform so well, but as time went on our chemistry just got better.”
Pflueger, a freshman who is already 6-foot-3, said he’s glad to be making an impact for CdM.
“It’s a really good team, so I’m just happy to be here,” he said.
Lincoln Lin also won a key singles set for CdM, whose only three losses this season have come to the other two teams ranked above them in Division 1, No. 1 University and No. 3 Palos Verdes.
However, the margins have been close enough that the Sea Kings know that they’re in the mix.
“Especially after the win today, I feel like we have a shot,” Lee said.
Gresh said it comes down to making the lineup that will put the team in the best position to win.
“You’re hoping your guys at the top of the lineup can sweep, but you need a collective team effort,” he said. “I think today, we had a very collective team effort. In this format, you need to be nine deep. Even if your eight and nine guys only win one set for you, that’s valuable.”
The Sea Kings, who have clinched the Surf League championship, wrap up league play Thursday against Fountain Valley. The league individuals tournament is next Monday and Tuesday, followed by the prestigious Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament later next week.
Hoffmann is CdM’s singles entrant at Ojai, while Cross and Hinkel will be playing doubles together.
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