The Santa Clarita Valley saw one boys tennis player advance through CIF-Southern Section individual sectionals on Thursday.
Trinity Classical Academy’s Dustin Kua, a freelance player, navigated three rounds at Cate High of Carpinteria to move on to the Round of 32.
After a first-round bye, Kua won the second round 6-2, 6-1 and the third round 6-3, 1-0 (opponent retired).
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“He’s one of the few people out there for tennis who is always fair and respectful of their opponents,” said West Ranch’s Davey Woodland, who trained with Kua.
“But he’s always one of the top recruits in the country. He’s one of the few people who can balance those things.”
Woodland also played at sectionals, but fell in the third round to Oaks Christian freshman Noah Gampel.
“The mindset is always to qualify,” Woodland said. “You don’t go into these things expecting to lose or expecting to not get a result that you want. I had a goal to make it to the main draw and unfortunately, I ran into someone who was red hot today.”
The Wildcats’ Parker McBride also lost in the third round to Kento Perera of San Marcos High.
Woodland and McBride played at Cate High.
In doubles, Valencia High’s Jackson Boxall and Stephen Thay lost 1-6 and 2-6 to Ventura in the third round and West Ranch’s Quincy Walter-Eze and Noah Morrow lost to San Marcos 4-6, 6-2, 6-10, also in the third round. Both played at Carpinteria High.
“We’ve been having a lot of drills in coaching leading up to this point,” Walter-Eze said. “Even yesterday we went through some doubles drills and I think it made a difference. We were on our game the first and second rounds.”
The Round of 32 takes place on June 1 at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center of South El Monte.
