A day after rain canceled an anticipated match with Valencia, Villa Park faced another North County opponent in Esperanza on Thursday.
The Spartans swept in doubles and cruised to a 16-2 victory over the Aztecs in nonleague play at Villa Park High. The Spartans improved to 2-0; the Aztecs fell to 0-1.

“Doubles played better every game,” Villa Park coach Mike Lee said. “Where we were last year at this point compared to where we are now this year, I see a lot more experience. It’s all the same guys.”

Villa Park won five of six sets in each of the first two rounds and clinched the match before sweeping in the final round. Bryan Chung and Nathan Pratt won all three sets at No. 1 doubles. Eric Wilson and Brandon Mazarra and Brandon Kim and Adam Ditowski swept at No. 2 and 3 doubles respectively.
Esperanza’s No. 1 singles player Sean Robles won both sets for his team. He trailed Villa Park’s No. 1 singles player Matt Chung 1-4 before rallying for the 6-4 victory.

“I’m hoping it’ll be a huge confidence booster for him,” Aztecs coach Rey Lejano said of the sophomore. “That was a great player and a great comeback. We had him in doubles last year. I’m excited about his future.”

Chung trailed against Aztecs No. 2 singles player Nathan Woznick before pulling off a comeback of his own. He won the set 6-4.

Jimmy Fernandez swept at No. 3 singles for the Aztecs, including a 6-0 victory over Robles.

“Jimmy played incredible,” Lee said. “He can be on and off, but when he plays like that he’s on fire. I really think he held his composure well in the pressure situations.”

Lee is counting on his doubles strength this year and Thursday’s performance didn’t disappoint. The Spartans were without No. 2 doubles player Bhavik Patel but it didn’t slow them down.“We’ve really been focusing on doubles,” Lee said. “We are looking for them to carry us in CIF.”

The Aztecs showed up without five regulars starters who were unavailable. Lejano said his team will learn from Thursday’s loss, and with the way the Spartans played, having a full lineup wouldn’t have made much difference.
“Villa Park is an excellent team,” Lejano said. “They are so solid and deep.”

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