Corona del Mar boys’ tennis is SoCal Regional runner-up
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CLAREMONT — The Corona del Mar High boys’ tennis team gave maximum effort Saturday in the CIF/USTA Southern California Regional title match.
Studio City Harvard-Westlake came up with a 6-1 win, but the Sea Kings didn’t necessarily walk out of the Claremont Club with their heads down.
CdM senior No. 1 singles player Ivan Pflueger said it was good that CdM didn’t win zero sets, known as a “bagel” in tennis. Instead, it was another food item that represented one set won.
“At least we didn’t get bageled,” Pflueger said with a laugh. “We got a breadstick. Let’s go to Olive Garden.”
The regional tournament is played in a different format than high school dual matches, with four singles players and three doubles teams from each school competing in a single, best-of-three-set match.
The one set for CdM on Saturday came courtesy of the No. 1 doubles team of senior Jack Barnes and freshman Quynh Tran. They rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-6 victory over Harvard-Westlake’s top tandem of Chase Klugo and Aaron Chung.
The third set at No. 1 doubles consisted of a match tiebreaker, because the overall outcome had already been determined in the Wolverines’ favor.
“It felt great,” Barnes said. “Ending on a win is always great. Unfortunately, we didn’t win as a team, but I felt like everyone fought as hard as they could. We were the underdogs; their team is so deep.”
After the match was complete, CdM coach Jamie Gresh thanked the parents for their support of their student-athletes, adding that it was a fun year.
“We completed really well today,” Gresh said. “Harvard-Westlake just played great. They’re a tough team to beat, we knew that coming in here. A wonderful season for CdM, I’m super-proud of these kids and what they’ve accomplished. Really enjoyable season, memorable and fun. The level of effort and commitment was there this year, and it was just an awesome year.”
Harvard-Westlake swept the four singles matches. Aiden Zadeh beat Pflueger 6-4, 7-5 at No. 1 singles. He got a bit of revenge for Pflueger’s epic tiebreaker win over him in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal match that Harvard-Westlake won 10-8, on its way to the Division 1 title.
Pflueger said he had a couple of set points, serving at 5-4 in the second set. CdM also had other chances in singles.
Harvard-Westlake’s Connor Yang rallied for a 7-5, 6-3 win over CdM’s Blake Fraley at No. 2 singles, with Yang storming back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set. At No. 3 singles, CdM senior Mason Nguyen opened up a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Harvard-Westlake’s Gideon Ames came back for a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
“I was up 3-1 and he just got a good break off my serve, and then it was all kind of downhill from there,” Nguyen said. “I think it’s hard for all of us, playing players who we know are higher-rated than us. It’s just hard on your mental [state], because you know you’re not supposed to win the match. It takes a lot of mental strength to get through that.”
Harvard-Westlake’s Andrew Esrailian and Elliott Meth beat CdM’s Caiden Streff and Blake Nguyen 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles, while the Wolverines’ Autrin Anousheh and Kieran Andersen rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win over the Sea Kings’ Matthew Carlin and Diego Tomlinson at No. 3 doubles.
Harvard-Westlake moves on to play Atherton Menlo in the state championship match on Saturday at Fresno State University.
Corona del Mar had advanced to the regional title match with a 6-1 victory over Torrey Pines, then a tight 4-3 win over rival University in the regional semifinals on Friday. Pflueger won the deciding match against University with a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 victory over JiHyuk Im.
Barnes earned a win at No. 4 singles, while the doubles teams of Streff and Blake Nguyen, as well as Carlin and Tomlinson, also had victories to help CdM advance.
CdM’s Pfleuger will compete in singles at the CIF Southern Section Individuals tournament, which continues Wednesday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont with the round of 32, round of 16 and quarterfinals. Barnes and Tran will compete in doubles for the Sea Kings, while Marina’s David Tran and Alejandro Hill have also advanced in doubles.
