Estancia captures Golden West title

Steve Virgen

They used to be a joke, but no one is laughing at them now.

The Estancia High Eagles, the last-place team in the Pacific Coast

League in 2000 and 2001, clinched the Golden West League girls tennis

championship and remained undefeated when they beat host Santa Ana,

12-6, Thursday. If Estancia would have lost, it would have had to

share the league title with Santa Ana.

Last year, the Eagles settled for a second-place tie with the

Saints and gnashed their teeth as they watched crosstown rival Costa

Mesa win the Golden West League crown.

But, this year, Estancia would not be denied.

Senior Stacie Nellor, the Eagles’ No. 1 singles player, and the

doubles team of seniors Huong Thai and Kittiya Sudhikam swept their

sets to lead Estancia (11-0, 10-0 in league) to the victory. It is

believed to be the Eagles’ first girls tennis league title since

1994.

“When I was a freshman, we were in last place [in the PCL],” said

Nellor, who has compiled a 27-3 singles record in dual matches this

season. “We considered ourselves a joke. But we worked hard and

succeeded.”

Nellor provided the Eagles with a 6-3 win over Maggie Vela in the

third round to clinch the team victory. She opened the match with a

6-2 victory over Santa Ana’s No. 1, Rocio Sanchez, and then followed

that up with a 6-3 win over Susie Salazar.

Freshman Sarah Stratton, the Eagles’ No. 3 singles player, won two

of three sets, as did Estancia’s No. 3 doubles team of sophomores

Sarah Muradian and Sage O’Toole. Stratton improved her singles record

to 25-5 in dual matches.

“The one thing that sets us apart from other teams is that we

don’t have one player that really stands out over the others,” said

Estancia Coach Rachel de los Santos, a biology teacher at the school.

“They all have winning records. We are consistent and we are very

balanced.”

De los Santos, who is known as “Miss D” by her students and

players, is in her third year with the Eagles and has provided

Estancia with stability, which was foreign to the program prior to

her arrival.

In Nellor’s freshman season, the Estancia girls tennis coach quit

one week into the season and the person who took over did not come

back the following season. That’s when Miss D grabbed the reins and

she has not let go.

“Miss D has helped a lot,” Nellor said. “Before I came to

Estancia, I heard that there was a new coach every year.”

De los Santos’ main message this season has been to stay focused

and not to get nervous. The Eagles were able to overcome the

intensity of a match that decided the league title. Even after the

teams were tied, 3-3, after the first round, the Eagles concentrated

on their goal and reached it by staying calm.

Estancia defeated Santa Ana, 10-8, earlier this season and that

has been the closest match for the Eagles.

“We didn’t come out with any intensity in the second round,” said

Santa Ana Coach Luis Rodriguez, whose team dropped to 12-3, 7-2. “I

think our girls were a little too nervous.”

*--*

Golden West League

Estancia 12, Santa Ana 6

Singles -- Nellor (E) def. Sanchez, 6-2, def. Salazar, 6-3, def. Vela, 6-1; Zaidler (E) won, 6-0, lost, 3-6, 3-6; Stratton (E) won, 6-0, lost, 2-6, won, 6-4.

Doubles -- Ingram-Morton (E) lost to Limon-Lopez, 3-6, def. MacDonald-Padilla, 6-2, lost to Tapia-Aguirre, 4-6; Thai-Sudhikam (E) won, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Muradian-O’Toole (E) won, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, lost, 5-7.

*--*