Depth carried Fountain Valley, Laguna Beach boys’ tennis teams to CIF titles

The joy of winning a CIF Southern Section title has not worn off for Fountain Valley High boys’ tennis coach Harshul Patel, and it probably won’t anytime soon.

“It’s still a dream,” Patel said Friday, a week after he and the Barons defeated top-seeded Temecula Great Oak 11-7 at the Claremont Club to win the Division 2 title, the first in program history.

When Patel wakes up from his dreams, he gets a reminder of the moment. The eighth-year Fountain Valley coach said he has the CIF championship plaque in the bedroom of his Rancho Santa Margarita home, at least for now.

He said it’s sitting on a stand on his dresser, only with the permission of his wife, Binta.

“We don’t have anything on the dresser because my wife is very particular about how clean it has to be, and I’m the messiest guy,” Harshul Patel said. “That’s always a war in the house, but she knew how important it was to me and what it meant to me. She made the exception for me.”

The Barons (20-3) themselves were a bit of an exception, without a superstar singles player. Junior Justin Nguyen played at No. 1 singles all year and was solid, but the Sunset League runner-up lost in the second round of the CIF Individuals tournament on Thursday. Nguyen is a two-star recruit out of five stars on tennisrecruiting.net. The No. 2 singles player, sophomore Ryan Trinh, also is a two-star recruit.

“Then when you go to doubles, there are no stars,” Patel said. “You can’t even find them on the ranking list. That tells you that the depth that we had was incredible, and they’re home-bred. Our players are here pretty much every single day.”

Freshman Ben Nguyen, the No. 3 singles player who is not related to Justin Nguyen, was the only one to beat Great Oak’s top player in the final. Ben Nguyen topped Great Oak senior Steven Howe 6-3 in the second round, part of a 5-1 round that gave the Barons a commanding 8-4 sets advantage.

Laguna Beach’s depth also shined through

Laguna Beach won the Division 4 boys’ tennis title on May 18, the program’s fourth CIF crown and first since 1982. The Breakers (16-5) earned a tight 10-8 victory over Redlands East Valley in the final. Like the Barons, Laguna Beach used its depth to its advantage.

The match was clinched after the Breakers’ No. 3 doubles team of junior Francis Pillsbury and sophomore Kyle Herkins edged Pate Bonds and Cole West, 7-6 (7-5), in the final set, saving two set points along the way.

Herkins originally wasn’t even sure if he was going to be at the title match. He said he was considering skipping it for his Advanced Placement test in European History, which started at noon on the same day. Instead, Herkins rescheduled the test and went to Claremont for the Breakers’ match.

“My team really wanted me to come [to the match],” said Herkins, who made up the test on Wednesday.

Three locals to vie at FINA World League Super Final

Aria Fischer, a Laguna Beach High alumna and Olympic gold medalist in 2016, is one of three local players who will compete for the U.S. women’s senior national water polo team in the FINA World League Super Final, which starts Monday in Kunshan, China.

Edison High alumna Alys Williams and former Corona del Mar High star Stephania Haralabidis are also on the roster for Team USA, which has won gold at the last four FINA World League Super Finals and is currently ranked No. 1 in the world.

Team USA opens group play against Japan on Monday, before taking on Canada on Tuesday and Russia on Wednesday. The championship match is scheduled for June 2.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo