Lightning meet Mesa in opener

All five Newport-Mesa high school boys’ tennis teams earned CIF Southern Section playoff invitations this season, but at least one won’t be around for the second round.

Sage Hill School, which last year defeated Estancia in a Division V first-round contest, will play host to Costa Mesa in this season’s first round, Thursday at 3 p.m. The match will be at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club, where Sage (11-8) played its home matches this season.

Estancia (15-2) will also be at home for its Division V first-round date against the winner of Tuesday’s wild-card match between host Whitney (11-9) and Workman (6-7). Whitney finished third in the Academy League.

In Division I, Corona del Mar (14-4) plays host to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in Thursday’s first round.

Also in Division I, Newport Harbor (10-4) is at home against Fountain Valley (15-4), for another first-round meeting.

Corona del Mar, the runner-up in the Pacific Coast League, is in the unfamiliar position of being unseeded in the playoffs. The Sea Kings were the No. 3 seed last year, when they lost in the semifinals to Santa Barbara.

Notre Dame (10-9) finished third in the Mission League.

The Sea Kings have been led by Fabian Matthews, Dustin Hladek, Jonathan Kroopf and freshman Parker Rhodes.

Matthews and Hladek teamed to finish second in the league doubles tournament last week, while Kroopf was the league’s fourth-place finisher in singles.

Sage Hill is led by Academy League singles champion Martin Park, who defeated fellow Lightning junior Robert Wee in the final.

Coach A.G. Longoria’s Lightning advanced to the Division V quarterfinals last season, where they were eliminated by Viewpoint.

Estancia is led by senior Scott Braunsdorf, Brad Fisher, Ely Zaidlere and Danny O’Neil. Braunsdorf and Fisher finished second and third, respectively, in the Golden West League singles tournament. Zaidler and O’Neil were the league doubles runners-up.

Costa Mesa enters Thursday’s match with an 11-5 record. The Mustangs were 10-2 in the Golden West League, to finish second behind Estancia.

Second-round matches in all divisions are scheduled for Saturday.

The quarterfinals are slated May 16, with the semifinals May 23 and the final May 31.