Dana Hills Comes Up Short Against Woodbridge This Time

Dana Hills closed the gap but didn’t have enough depth to upset fourth-seeded Woodbridge, losing, 10-8, in the Southern Section Division I boys’ tennis quarterfinals. Woodbridge (17-4) will meet top-seeded Los Alamitos Thursday in the semifinals.

In a meeting during the regular season, Woodbridge handled Dana Hills, 12-6. But Tuesday in Irvine, the Dolphins came within a set of extending the coaching career of John Stephens, who is retiring after 11 seasons. The Dolphins won more games than Woodbridge, 78-77, but lost on sets because they were swept at No. 2 singles (Blake Wilson-Hayden) and No. 3 doubles (Chase Ora and Gary Fan).

Dana Hills’ No. 3 singles player Javier Carrillo gave his team hope when he rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to beat Woodbridge’s No. 1 player, David Lingman, 7-5, in the second round.

“My forehand was off,” said Lingman, who opened the match with an impressive 6-2 victory over Brian Kent, Dana Hills’ No. 1 singles player. “He got to a lot of balls and he played well.”

Carrillo’s victory left Woodbridge with a 7-5 lead in sets and a 55-54 lead in games entering the last rotation.

“I knew we were going to be dead in the water if it was 9-9 in games,” Woodbridge Coach Joan Willett said. “I was concerned.”

In the last round, Dana Hills (18-4) received points from Carrillo, Kent and Jon Lippert and Jason Efstathiou in doubles, but everyone else fell. The doubles team of Elliot Fisher and Brian Liebman had the best chance of winning, but they lost to Jonathan Sheridan and Brett Van Linge, 6-4.

The Dolphins still had an outside shot of winning as Wilson-Hayden battled Lingman with his team trailing, 9-8. But only a few of Wilson-Hayden’s teammates bothered to watch the end of his 6-2 loss.

“We went just about as far as we probably should have,” Stephens said.

“It had to be a total team victory this time. Their depth was the biggest difference.”

That depth will have to be the difference Thursday if Woodbridge is going to keep its perfect record intact against Los Alamitos. The Warriors, who won Division I titles in 1996 and 1997, have never lost to Los Alamitos and have eliminated the Griffins from the playoffs three of the last five years. The teams did not meet this season.

“It looks like we match up well,” Lingman said. “If I sweep, I think we win. It’ll be a good match. We’ll both be up.”

Willett was a bit more cautious.

“I never count my chickens,” she said. “We’ll have to be scrappy, mentally and physically. They’ve beaten teams we’ve lost to.”

In other Division I matches:

Corona del Mar 18, Capistrano Valley 0--The third-seeded Sea Kings (20-1) advanced to Thursday’s semifinals, where they will play Palos Verdes Peninsula. Capistrano Valley finished 18-4.

Palos Verdes Peninsula 17, Irvine 1--Second-seeded Peninsula advanced easily.

Los Alamitos 13, Upland 5--Senior Cody Jackson and sophomore Drew Hoskins swept their single matches without surrendering a single game for Los Alamitos (20-1). The Griffins will play Woodbridge in the semifinals.