Woodbridge, Sunny Hills Are Awarded the Top Seedings

As expected, Woodbridge and Sunny Hills were named the top-seeded teams in the Southern Section boys’ tennis playoff pairings that were released Tuesday. The unexpected came when six of the top 11 teams in Division I were grouped in the same region; the other five teams were spread among the other three regions.

Woodbridge, the top-ranked team in Orange County, will open defense of its Division I title Tuesday against Long Beach Poly or Esperanza, which play Friday in a wild-card match.

The Warriors, who finished the regular season 20-0, are in the same region as Dana Hills, Aliso Niguel, Capistrano Valley, Los Alamitos and University.

All are top 10 teams in Division I, except University, which had been in the top 10 all season until it dropped out last week.

Corona del Mar (12-7), which tied Santa Margarita for second place in the Sea View League behind Woodbridge, was seeded fourth.

The Sea Kings will play in Region IV, which does not include any top teams. They will play the Alta Loma-Apple Valley winner on Tuesday.

The regional playoff format, which is in its first year, was adopted to cut down on travel within the playoffs. Stephens, however, said it isn’t working.

“Bill Clark [the CIF administrator in charge of tennis] says people have been complaining about the travel, but I haven’t heard it,” Stephens said. “Traveling is always the fun part of the playoffs. This regional thing has got to go. Orange County is always super strong in tennis. If you go regional with that, you’re always going to have problems.”

The problem Dana Hills (17-2) faces is having to beat University (13-5) in the first round and Aliso Niguel (16-2) in the second round.

Dana Hills and Aliso Niguel were ranked fifth and sixth in the section polls, yet they could meet in the second round.

Third-ranked Sunny Hills (13-3), which has won three section titles in the 1990s, will face the San Bernardino-Hesperia Sultana winner Tuesday in the first round of Division II play.

Santa Margarita (17-3), which lost to Woodbridge twice and Corona del Mar once, is seeded second in Division II and will play the La Verne Damien-Loara winner.

Fourth-ranked El Dorado (20-0), the only other undefeated team in the county, opens the first round by hosting Canyon. Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara were seeded third and fourth.

The pairings:

WILD-CARD ROUND (Friday, 3 p.m.)

Division I

Esperanza at Long Beach Poly; Saddleback at Los Alamitos; Santa Ana at Capistrano Valley; Fountain Valley at Long Beach Millikan; Long Beach Wilson at Fountain Valley.

Division II

Loara at La Verne Damien.

Division III

Valencia at Pasadena Mayfair; Bellflower at Valencia; Sonora at La Quinta.

FIRST ROUND (Tuesday, 3 p.m.)

Division I

Long Beach Poly (14-3)-Esperanza (9-7) winner at Woodbridge (20-0); Los Alamitos (16-1)- Saddleback (11-5) winner vs. Capistrano Valley (15-3)-Santa Ana (10-10) winner; Fountain Valley (10-5)-Long Beach Millikan (15-3) winner at Aliso Niguel (16-2); University (13-5)-Long Beach Wilson (10-9) winner at Dana Hills (17-2); Alta Loma (13-5)-Apple Valley (8-5) winner at Corona del Mar.

Division II

San Bernardino San Gorgonio (12-3)-Hesperia Sultana (16-1) winner at Sunny Hills (13-3); La Verne Damien (8-4)-Loara (10-10) winner at Santa Margarita (17-3); Canyon (10-8) at El Dorado (20-0); Claremont (15-6) at Foothill (14-5); Villa Park (12-6) at Mission Viejo (11-9).

Division III

Pasadena Mayfair (11-8)-Valencia (8-11) winner at Garden Grove (17-2); Pacifica (12-5) at Brea Olinda (13-10); Bellflower (12-6)-Western (16-3) winner at Troy (15-4); Sonora (12-7)-La Quinta (8-6) winner at Servite (18-2).

Division IV

Brethren Christian (8-6) at Laguna Beach (10-8).