Boys’ Tennis: CdM makes history

CLAREMONT — Matt Paulsen and John Hart were a pair of Corona del Mar High juniors trying to prove themselves at No. 3 doubles Friday afternoon at The Claremont Club.

Bjorn Hoffmann is a four-year CdM varsity stalwart and co-captain who was trying to scrap at No. 1 singles.

But in the CIF USTA Southern California Boys’ Tennis Regionals, everyone is equal. The format features four singles players and three doubles teams, all of whom play best-of-three sets.

That format seems to fit a deep and peaking CdM team just fine.

The Sea Kings made history Friday. Paulsen and Hart won, then Hoffmann won moments later as CdM edged Palm Desert, 4-3, in the regional semifinals after upending Torrey Pines, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.

For the first time in the tournament’s four-year history, a CdM boys’ or girls’ team will compete in the SoCal Regional title match.

CdM will play the CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion, Peninsula, in the final Saturday at 1:30 p.m. back at The Claremont Club. Top-seeded Peninsula, playing without top player Connor Hance, was still able to beat University, 4-3, in the other regional semifinal.

Make that two Sea Kings teams competing for Southern California supremacy, as the boys’ volleyball team plays Mira Costa for the SoCal Division 1 title Saturday night at Edison High.

As for the boys’ tennis team, a win Saturday would cap off a highlight-filled season for CdM, which advanced to the Division 1 semifinals after missing the postseason altogether last year.

“We’re really kind of living up to whatever hype that we might have, or whatever standards people have set for us,” Hoffmann said. “I thought we’ve met those standards, and even exceeded them at this point. I mean, the finals of [Southern California] is nothing to scoff at. This is legit … I think we’re just a different team than we were at the beginning of the year. As a team captain, I’m super proud of everyone. It’s definitely progression.”

The Sea Kings certainly won a nail-biter against Palm Desert, which had defeated San Marino in another quarterfinal.

CdM was tied with Palm Desert midway through the match. At No. 4 singles, CdM sophomore Diego Fernandez del Valle blanked Christian Rozpedski, 6-0, 6-0. And CdM freshman Kyle Pham earned a tough 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles against Palm Desert’s Luciano Ferrer.

Palm Desert countered as its No. 1 doubles team of Brad Cummins and Sebastian Gomez beat CdM’s Oliver Kim and Grant Brown, 6-4, 6-1. The Aztecs earned their second point when Connor Rapp outlasted Pedro Fernandez del Valle, 6-3, 7-6 (6) at No. 2 singles.

But that’s when Paulsen and Hart came up big. They earned their second win of the day, capturing a 6-4, 7-6 (5) triumph at No. 3 doubles over Quinn Bush and Ethan Weiss.

CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said this is the closest team he’s had in his four-year tenure, and the Sea Kings showed it.

“I knew that it was a close match and I knew that we had to win,” Paulsen said. “It really pumped me up when I hear [substitute] Austin [McWilliams-Lucero] over there start screaming, because he’s never gotten that into it ever. When he was standing by the side of the court screaming, it really helped me.”

Hoffmann then finished off a 7-5, 6-0, win over Alex Kuperstein at No. 1 singles. Kuperstein had served for the first set at 5-4 before Hoffmann rallied for the second straight match to clinch the win for his team.

“A very cool moment for Bjorn as a senior to clinch two matches, put the fourth point up on the board for his team,” Gresh said.

Hoffmann had also done so earlier against Torrey Pines, when he beat Jacob Brumm, 7-6, 6-1. It was the second time Hoffmann has beaten Brumm this season, the first coming in the CIF singles division quarterfinals of the Ojai Tournament last month.

Similar to their Ojai meeting, Hoffmann rallied in the first set Friday, erasing a 5-2 deficit to win in the tiebreaker.

“I definitely thought I played some of my best tennis today, and I needed to,” Hoffmann said. “Yeah, this is a different format, but I think we all really like it and we all competed hard.”

Gresh said that Torrey Pines, which won the CdM All-American Tournament this year, was playing without two of its top three singles players. But credit the fully loaded Sea Kings for taking advantage. Pedro Fernandez del Valle beat Torrey Pines’ Daniel de la Torre, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 2 singles, while Pham earned another win, 7-6, 6-4, over Eshan Talluri at No. 3 singles.

Diego Fernandez del Valle eased past Torrey Pines’ Raman Danchal, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 4 singles, and CdM also won a pair of doubles sets. CdM sophomores Jacob Cooper and Ryan Wessler earned a 6-3, 6-4 win over Will Molenkamp and James Singer at No. 2 doubles, while Paulsen and Hart recorded a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jiayong Li and Zach Brumm at No. 3 doubles.

Paulsen and Hart, who’s a transfer from University, said they hoped they would meet the Pacific Coast League rival Trojans in the SoCal title match. Instead, the Sea Kings will face off against Peninsula for the second time this season. CdM lost to the Panthers, 12-6, in early March at Peninsula High.

But, as the Sea Kings have shown, they are much-improved since then.

“It’s extremely exciting, and I think it’s a great step forward for the program,” Gresh said. “It just goes to show that this team has really excelled against some tough competition, for sure.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo