Two earn playoff spots
After securing the final two playoffs spots from the Pacific League, the Glendale High and Hoover boys’ tennis teams learned Monday that they will have little time to prepare for the postseason.
The CIF Southern Section office unveiled its playoff pairings Monday morning and Glendale and Hoover are scheduled to participate in Division II wild-card matches at 3 p.m. today.
Glendale will meet visiting Hart, while Hoover will travel to Mission Viejo. Glendale (9-6) and Hoover (8-7) finished third and fourth, respectively, in league.
Hart (9-8) received an at-large berth after placing fourth in the Pacific League. Mission Viejo finished 4-9 and was third place in the Sea View League.
The Glendale-Hart winner will meet top-seeded Palm Desert (17-1) on the road in a first-round match at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Hoover-Mission Viejo winner will travel to battle second-seeded Santa Monica (8-4) in a first-round contest at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Palm Desert and Santa Monica captured the Desert Valley and Ocean leagues, respectively.
Glendale Coach Bob Davidson said the Nitros will look to make the most of their opportunity.
“It should be a real good match for us,” Davidson said. “We are familiar with Hart, having played them in the past.
“If we play well, then we have a good chance. I’m not glad that the winner will have to go to Palm Desert to play the next day. With a wild-card match, it’s good to get one under your belt before the main draw. Hart has some singles players who are comparable to ours and they have good doubles teams. We hope that our No. 3 singles and doubles teams are a little stronger than theirs.”
The Nitros will be led by singles players Arin Meserkhani and Mike Unanian. Rene Glandian and Sam Sarian figure to be Glendale’s top doubles team.
Hoover Coach Julie Hoppe said the Tornadoes aren’t concerned about a quick turnaround.
“We’ve got nothing to lose and maybe it could work in our favor,” Hoppe said. “If we win, then that’s great because we will be even closer to home.
“We weren’t going to get better in one day physically. It comes down to mentally.”
The Tornadoes will turn to its strong singles lineup featuring Emile Ohanyan and Oleg Simonyan. Ohanyan reached the semifinals of the league’s individual tournament Thursday and Simonyan is a reigning All-Area honoree.
