Vaughan’s Frustrating Season Continues With Another Loss : Tennis: Corona del Mar player eliminated in consolation round of U.S. Tennis Assn. 16s national championships.

SAN DIEGO —  Corona del Mar’s Nina Vaughan could have played better at the U.S. Tennis Assn. girls’ 16s national championships--she bowed out Wednesday in the consolation round after a grueling 6-4, 6-4 loss to Morisa Yang of Torrance. But Vaughan realizes she has plenty to be thankful for--she made it out of the tournament in one piece.

National tournaments and Vaughan have not exactly been a great match this year. At the Easter Bowl in Palm Springs, she made an early exit and then spent the rest of the tournament sick in her hotel room with her younger sister, Nadia. She didn’t last long at the Intersectionals in Shreveport, La., either. Vaughan got sick again after her body couldn’t handle the South’s heat and humidity.

And in San Diego? She escaped the flu bug, but she didn’t escape injury. Vaughan came into this week’s event fit and rested, but when she woke up the day before the tournament began, she couldn’t turn her head.

On Sunday, hours before her first-round match, Vaughan persuaded a local chiropractor to make a house call.

“He had to basically straighten out my neck,” she said. “When he cracked my neck, it was the biggest drawn-out crack you’ve ever heard. I thought he broke my neck. I’m never going to forget that sound.”

Somehow Vaughan managed to win her first-round match over Rajasree Kruvilla of Chicago, 6-3, 7-5. “My neck was so sore that I couldn’t turn it at all,” she said. “I was having to play some weird tennis.”

By Monday, Vaughan’s stiff neck had loosened and she won her second-round match easily. But Tuesday she ran into Adria Engel of Glen Ellyn, Ill., who had spent the summer playing pro satellite tournaments, and lost, 6-0, 6-4.

By Wednesday, Vaughan, who turns 15 this month, was feeling the strain of playing four matches in four days and didn’t have enough energy to beat Yang, a 13-year-old playing up a division. Still, Vaughan had no excuses.

“I feel like I’m going to die on the fourth day of these tournaments, but I shouldn’t be like this,” she said. “Look at Steffi Graf. She can play Sanchez-Vicario for three hours in the finals of a Grand Slam and not even look tired. I need to get in better shape.

“Judging from my ranking before this tournament, people would probably say I did really well. But in my heart, I know I should have done a lot better.”

Though she’s ranked third in Southern California in her age division, Vaughan immediately began listing her faults. During the fall high school season, Vaughan vowed to get stronger physically and mentally, quicker and more fit. She also wants to develop a bigger serve and a more aggressive net game.

“I’m tall,” said Vaughan, a slender 5 feet 10. “I should have a bigger serve. It could be a weapon for me.”

First, Vaughan, who will be a sophomore at Corona del Mar High, has to change her technique.

“I’m trying to make my wrist snap to put more on my serve,” she said. “But it’s hard to do something you’re not used to.”

But Vaughan will continue to work on her game. She must, if for no other reason than to stay ahead of Nadia, who was playing in the girls’ 14 nationals in Atlanta.

“I still always win when we play, but she’s getting closer,” Vaughan said, laughing. “I can’t let her beat me.”

But for now, Vaughan said she will take some time off to recover from her sprained ligament in her neck and to enjoy what’s left of her summer vacation. Though it hasn’t been the best of summers, it beats her spring vacation.

“I was throwing up most of the time,” she said. “It was definitely the worst Easter vacation I’ve ever had.”