Boys’ Tennis: Sailors’ Stalder on to semifinals
SEAL BEACH — Leave it to the Newport Harbor High tennis program to turn the CIF Southern Section Individual boys’ tennis tournament into a team event.
Sailors senior Reese Stalder certainly felt the support Friday afternoon, when about 40 student-athletes from the program, boys and girls, arrived to Seal Beach Tennis Center via bus late in the first set of his quarterfinal match against Ryan Marker of Palm Desert.
Newport Harbor senior co-captain David Schaefer called the student cheering section, virtually unheard of at an event like CIF Individuals, “an army.” But Stalder’s teammates saw him lose focus a bit after they arrived, also losing a 5-2 lead as he was pushed to a tiebreaker.
It was the first time that the top-seeded Stalder, who is 67-0 this season, had to go to a tiebreaker all year. From there, though, his Sailors teammates saw the resolve that has pushed Stalder to the verge of the undefeated season in the first place.
He edged Marker, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), to secure his spot in Saturday’s CIF Individuals singles semifinals.
Stalder, the Sunset League champion, will play Eddie Gutierrez of Fullerton in a semifinal match at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Seal Beach Tennis Center. No. 3-seeded Brandon Holt of Palos Verdes will play Connor Rapp of Palm Desert in the other semifinal, and the championship match will follow Saturday afternoon.
The TCU-bound Stalder is vying to become the third Newport Harbor CIF Individuals singles champion in the tournament’s history, following Bob Ogle in 1971 and Brett Hansen-Dent in 1990.
Holt eliminated Corona del Mar junior Bjorn Hoffmann in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Hoffmann had defeated Victor Cheng of Santa Monica, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), in a round of 16 match.
Stalder got past Charles Deng of Arcadia, 6-2, 6-2, in his round of 16 match. Marker, the Desert Valley League champion who is bound for the University of San Francisco, wasn’t nearly as easy. Stalder tried mixing in drop shots early, but those either went into the net or were easily ran down by Marker.
“He’s really comfortable from the back, so I thought I’d bring him in, try to change up the pace,” Stalder said. “But he was getting up and hitting ground strokes off my drop shots. I figured it was time to move away from that [strategy].”
Stalder still was up 5-3 in the first set when his teammates got there. Many of them sat on the grass next to court No. 7, watching the action.
“It was a fun atmosphere,” Stalder said. “It was really nice of all of them to come. It makes it more fun to play, for sure.”
Newport Harbor Coach Kristen Case, who always emphasizes teamwork, said the timing wasn’t ideal. But she know that Stalder, who has been a team player throughout his four years in the program, would appreciate the support.
“The bus was a little late getting here and it changes the environment a little bit,” Case said. “However, he responded well. It’s the same atmosphere as what you’re going to see in a college match, so it was good preparation for that. Reese did a good job of recognizing it and using it to his advantage.”
Stalder took a 5-2 lead in the first-set tiebreaker, but Marker saved set points at 6-5 and 7-6. But Stalder captured the set at 8-7 with a big service winner that Marker couldn’t return.
Stalder broke Marker’s serve in the first game of the second set, but eventually fell behind 5-3 and had to rally to force another tiebreaker. He seized control early there, though, taking a 4-0 lead and cruising to the finish.
“I feel good,” Stalder said. “Hopefully it’s not done yet. Last year, I lost in the [CIF Individuals quarterfinals], so I’m happy to improve at the very least ... I don’t really mind [being the top seed]. I’ve been toward the top of the rankings for a while, so it’s not the first time I’ve been the No. 1 seed. But it works both ways. Sometimes some kids feel like they have to play better [to beat me], just because I’m the No. 1 seed. It kind of just depends on the player.”
Hoffmann’s match against Holt had few of the long rallies that characterized Stalder’s match against Marker. Holt, the Bay League champion, cruised through the first set before Hoffmann also took the second set easily.
In the third set, however, Hoffmann couldn’t recover after Holt took a 3-0 lead. The unforced errors piled up for Hoffmann, who double-faulted on match point.
Hoffmann had defeated Holt twice this season, in a team dual match in March and in the CIF singles division semifinals at the Ojai tournament. But he said he had a tough week of practice leading up to CIF Individuals play Friday.
“I wasn’t practicing the way I should play,” said Hoffmann, a Cal commit. “I’m kind of playing around with a couple of different forehands, and the whole week this last week has been me kind of playing around with which one I like. I still couldn’t decide [today], and I was still switching around between forehands. They would just fade in and out, and I didn’t know what to do.”
Still, it was an impressive season for Hoffmann, who played No. 1 singles all year long for the Sea Kings and was a National High School All-American selection, along with Stalder.
“[This quarterfinal match was] a learning lesson,” Hoffmann said. “I need to figure out what I’m going to do, how I’m going to play, and just stick with it. I can’t keep changing. It was pretty bad today. I just need to rethink and rework some stuff.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
