Unbeaten CdM seeded No. 1

Barry Faulkner

Corona del Mar High boys tennis coach Tim Mang believes his

top-seeded Sea Kings are healthy and ready to chase the CIF Southern

Section Division I championship. But, he is also realistic enough to

know he might not call upon them to be at full strength for a little

more than two weeks.

“I don’t see much competition until the semifinals,” Mang said of

the Division I bracket, released Monday at the Southern Section

office.

The Sea Kings (19-0) open Saturday at home against South Torrance,

an at-large entry from the Bay League.

CdM, with nine section titles to its credit, the last one a

Division V crown in 2001, may not be fully tested until the May 29

semifinals, when it could face No. 4-seeded Peninsula.

Peninsula, runner-up to third-seeded Beverly Hills in the Bay

League, dropped a 12-6 nonleague verdict to CdM. The Sea Kings also

own a 12-6 win over Beverly Hills.

No. 2-seeded Harvard-Westlake, champion of the Mission League,

offers some stimulus for Mang’s marauders.

“The only team we haven’t played yet is Harvard-Westlake,” Mang

said.

CdM, paced by senior Garrett Snyder and sophomore Carsten Ball, is

not the only Newport-Mesa representative in the postseason.

Newport Harbor, which won a third-place playoff with Irvine to

earn the Sea View League’s final guaranteed berth, will visit Beverly

Hills in Friday’s first round.

Sage Hill, the third-place team from the Academy League, opens

Division V play Saturday on the road against Orange League champion

Savanna. All matches are scheduled for 2 p.m.

Coach Jeff Thomsen’s Sailors (8-5) are led by freshman Sea View

singles champion Robert Khoury, who upset Woodbridge’s Shimpei

Suzuki, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1, to claim the league singles crown Thursday.

Sage Hill, in only its second varsity season, finished 9-8. Coach

A.G. Longoria’s Lightning lineup includes Eric Burton and Tristan

Cordier, who combined to finish third in doubles in the Academy

League.

Should Newport Harbor advance to the second round, it would meet

either Servite or Northwood.

If Sage Hill can win, it will play either Beaumont or Covina.

Whitney, the Academy League champion, is the top seed in Division

V, where M.L. King of Riverside, Academy League runner-up Fairmont

Prep, and Don Bosco Tech, respectively, round out the top seeds.