Hoover, Crescenta Valley, Flintridge Prep gear up for CIF tennis playoffs

For a second season in a row, the Hoover High boys’ tennis team finds itself in the CIF Southern Section playoffs and the Tornadoes find themselves with a daunting task.

Hoover is set to face Harvard-Westlake, the third seed in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs, in the first round on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Elsewhere in Division I, Crescenta Valley will host Redondo Union in Tuesday’s wild-card round, while Flintridge Prep, in Division II, will travel to face Walnut in a Division II wild-card matchup. Both matches are set to begin at 3 p.m.

The Tornadoes, led by singles players Emile Ohanyan and Oleg Simonyan, will make the short trip to face Harvard-Westlake, the Mission League champion.

The Wolverines (18-5) will play host to a Tornadoes squad (9-7) that finished third in the Pacific League.

The winner will advance to Friday’s second round to face Westlake or Dos Pueblos.

Crescenta Valley (6-8), having finished fourth in the Pacific League, hosts Redondo Union, a Bay League at-large entrant with an impressive 14-6 record.

The winner moves into Wednesday’s first round to take on the tournament’s top seed, University, which is a perfect 16-0 and won the Pacific Coast League.

Flintridge Prep earned an at-large bid with an 8-7 record and will travel to play Walnut, the Hacienda League’s third-place squad, which boasts a 12-3 record. The winner of Tuesday’s match will advance to face Division II No. 1 seed San Marino on Wednesday.