Boys Tennis All-Area: Arroyo's Sam Ho and Rowland's Kelley Wong take top honors

Ho is joined on the All-Area first team by singles players Marcelo Bautista of Rowland; Phillip Kozan of Diamond Bar and Arroyo teammate Thinh Tran. The doubles team consists of Diamond Bar's Terry Mork and Austin Chen; Rowland's Kelvin Wong and Adam Yu and Arroyo's Jerry Holmes Bryan Pham.

Rowland's Kelley Wong, who led the Raiders to their second divisional final in the past three seasons, is Coach of the Year.

"I look back on the season and think what we accomplished as a team and it makes me very proud," said Ho, who fought off an ankle injury early in the season to finish strong, including winning all three of his sets during Arroyo's 10-8 setback to Arlington in the Division 5 final.

"Individually, my teammates helped me tremendously. They motivated me and helped me become a better player."

The Knights went 20-0 in the Mission Valley League the past two seasons.

Ho also was Mission Valley League singles champion and advanced two rounds at the CIF-SS individual championships.

"To get to back-to-back CIF finals is a great achievement for the school and for me as an individual," he said. "Tennis wasn't popular here before, so we've brought attention to our sport and our school.

"This is a great group of guys to be associated with and to achieve something like this is great. We hope to continue it."

Wong earned her second Coach of the Year honor this school year after leading Rowland to the Division 4 final, where it lost to Viewpoint on games. Wong was girls tennis Coach of the Year in the fall after the Raiders became the only area team to advance to the semifinals.

Bautista was a key factor in Rowland advancing to the finals. He also was San Antonio League singles champion and advanced two rounds during the individual championships.

Kozan led Diamond Bar's road to the Division 2 semifinals. He was runner-up in the Sierra League.

Tran was part of Arroyo's one-two punch with Ho and finished second to his teammate for the Mission Valley League title. He also had some big wins during the Knights' playoff run.

Mork and Chen also sparked Diamond Bar's playoff run. They finished second in the Sierra League and were the only competitors - singles or doubles - to advance to the round of 16 during the CIF-SS individual championships.

Wong and Yu formed Rowland's most successful doubles team and finished second in the San Antonio League.

Holmes and Pham also played a part in Arroyo's success. They won the Mission Valley League championship.

steve.ramirez@sgvn.com

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