Samohi Tennis Swings Into Southern Section Finals

It comes down to this.

Third-seeded against top-seeded Palm Desert for the CIF Southern Section Division 2 boys tennis championship next Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at The Claremont Club.

The Vikings punched their tickets Tuesday with a shockingly easy 15-3 victory over second-seeded Arcadia on the bottom half of the draw. On the opposite side, the Aztecs took care of Pacific League runner-up Burbank Burroughs 14-4.

Santa Monica beat Burbank, West Ranch and Foothill on its way to the semifinals, while Palm Desert defeated Anaheim Canyon, Claremont and Walnut. 

Palm Desert, the Desert Valley League champion, is making its third trip to the finals in the last four seasons. The Aztecs lost to Diamond Bar in 2008 and lost to Brentwood last year. They are led by singles players Abe Hewko, Aidan Koross and Austin Rapp and the league champion doubles duo of Blake Eggleston and Chris Bastardi.

The Aztecs are 20-1 and their only loss was 11-7 to Division 1 powerhouse Peninsula on April 22. 

Ocean League champion Samo (13-4) is led by singles players Cristobal Rivera, Conrad McKinnon and Connor Treacy and the doubles duos of Zach Resnick and Alex Baettig and Ben Gelfand and Peter Harding. 

Baseball

After winning the Ocean League title, Samo lost 9-3 to Almont League runner-up Montebello in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. The Vikings finished the season 13-17.

Softball

Like the baseball team, the Lady Vikings won the Ocean league and hosted a first-round playoff game, but Samo lost 6-1 to Loara, the third-place team out of the Golden West League. 

Boys Volleyball

After winning their fifth CIF Southern Section title in program history and first since 2006 with a 22-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-23 victory over San Gabriel in the Division 3 championship last Saturday at Cypress College, the Vikings fell to Chula Vista Otay Ranch in the first round of the Southern California Regional Division I playoffs. 

The Vikings ended the season at 23-12.