Corona del Mar earns No. 4 seed

The Corona del Mar High boys’ tennis team, which has won four CIF Southern Section championships during the 13-year coaching tenure of Tim Mang, are the only seeded team among four Newport-Mesa squads in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

The Sea Kings (15-3), who finished second to University in the Pacific Coast League, are the No. 4 seed in Division I.

Estancia, Sage Hill and Newport Harbor have also earned postseason berths in their respective divisions, for which pairings were announced Monday.

Corona del Mar will open at home Thursday against Dos Pueblos, the No. 3 representative out of the Channel League. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Estancia (13-5), which captured the Orange Coast League crown, its second league championship in four seasons, will have to wait to see who it plays host to in Thursday’s Division IV first round, Thursday at 3 p.m..

Coach Rachel del los Santos’ Eagles will meet the winner of Tuesday’s wild-card match between Morro Bay and Paramount.

Also competing in Division IV is Academy League runner-up Sage Hill. Coach A.G. Longoria’s Lightning (10-10), ranked No. 7 in the final Division IV poll, will open Thursday at home at 3 p.m. against Linfield Chrsitian, the runner-up in the Sunbelt League.

Newport Harbor (8-7), the third-place team from the Sunset League is on the road in its first-round Division I contest. The Sailors, guided by first-year coach Brooke Taylor, visit Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach, Thursday at 3 p.m.

CdM, Sage Hill and Estancia were all defeated in the quarterfinals last season, while Newport Harbor was eliminated in the first round in 2006.

Mang’s Sea Kings are led this season by reigning Southern Section doubles champions Dustin Hladek and Fabian Matthews. Hladek, a senior, and Matthews, a junior, defeated teammates Parker Rhodes and Jos Kim, 6-1, 6-1, to claim the Pacific Coast League doubles crown Thursday.

Hladek and Matthews also recently won the high school doubles title at the prestigious Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.

Sea Kings Hottan Mehr and Brent Pham teamed up to finish fourth in the league doubles tournament, where CdM standout Chris Damion finished fourth in singles.

Junior Bradley Fisher paces the Estancia squad, having won the Orange Coast League singles title Wednesday with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-0 verdict over sophomore teammate Danny O’Neil in the league singles final.

Estancia also counts upon Chris Koreerat and Nick Oliver, who teamed to finish fourth in doubles at the league tournament.

Sage Hill, which suffered eight of its 10 losses in nonleague matches, is paced by Martin Park. Park, the 2006 Academy League singles champion, finished fourth in the league singles tournament last week.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].