LOOKING AHEAD / UPCOMING PREP EVENTS IN ORANGE COUNTY

BOYS’ TENNIS

The Southern Section’s new regional playoff format has made for some interesting first-round matchups. With the old format, most teams in the top 10 of their divisions didn’t meet other top-10 teams until the second or even the quarterfinal round. But if ninth-ranked Los Alamitos (16-1) and eighth-ranked Capistrano Valley (16-3) get past Saddleback (11-5) and Santa Ana (10-10) in Friday’s wild-card round, they will meet in Tuesday’s first round. Another competitive first-round match could be unranked University (13-5) at fifth-ranked Dana Hills (17-2). The first time the teams played, Dana Hills won on games. First, University must get by Long Beach Wilson (10-9) Friday.

In the first round of Division II, the best two matchups are Canyon (10-8) at undefeated El Dorado (20-0) and Villa Park (12-6) at Mission Viejo (11-9). In Division IV, Laguna Beach (8-10) will host Brethren Christian (8-6) in the first round.