CdM upended by Peninsula

Bryce Alderton

Corona del Mar High girls tennis coach Scott Feichter didn’t hesitate

when asked if Peninsula was the best team the Sea Kings have faced

this year.

“Oh yeah,” Feichter said after the undefeated and host Panthers

secured what turned out to be an 11-7 victory in a CIF Southern

Section Division I semifinal on a chilly Thursday afternoon.

Alex Jurewitz improved to 55-8 with a sweep in singles for the

top-seeded Panthers (22-0), who claimed six of nine doubles sets.

Senior Macall Harkins and partner Paige Weber, along with the duo of

Emily Aston and Erika Schweyer, each won three sets as Peninsula took

a 10-5 lead in the third round to seal the victory.

CdM senior Brittany Holland took two of three sets at No. 1

singles for the fourth-seeded Sea Kings (15-5).

“I hoped for the sweep, but that is the way it goes,” Holland

said. “Peninsula is a tough team and Alex is a great player. She had

the better day on the court than I did.”

The Panthers defeated the Sea Kings, 12-6, in the teams’ prior

matchup earlier this fall.

Holland trailed, 5-2, but came back to within 5-4 against

Jurewitz, who held serve to seal the victory.

CdM trailed, 4-2 and 8-4, and received a clutch singles victory

from senior Amanda Rubenstein over Rika Tatsuno, 7-6 (7-5) in the

second round. Rubenstein hit a backhand drop shot to seal the win.

Earlier she powered a backhand down the line to go up, 6-5, on

Tatsuno.

“That was a key win,” Feichter said about Rubenstein’s victory.

“If we would have had a few other career matches we would have been

golden.”

Junior Jami Steele and freshman partner Hayley Young tallied the

Sea Kings’ fourth victory Thursday against Peninsula’s Stephanie Chen

and Heather Zinkiewicz, 7-5. Steele and Young led, 3-0, before the

Panther duo cut the lead to 6-5. With Steele serving, Young lined a

volley to clinch set point. Steele and Young were involved in the two

longest matches in both the first and second rounds. Their first set

took almost an hour to complete.

Freshman Jill Damion, along with the doubles tandems of Juliette

Mutzke and Jillian Braverman and Jackie Manning and Miranda Young,

each won one set.

Freshman Michelle Atkins played one set in the third round for

Rubenstein.

Damion led, 3-2, in the second round against Tania Mahtani and the

two would battle into a tiebreaker won by Mahtani, 7-6 (7-4).

Manning and Miranda Young trailed Harkins and Weber, 2-5, before

winning the next two games before the Panther duo prevailed.

Harkins, a left-hander who will continue her tennis career at the

University of Illinois, cast an imposing presence at the net with her

6-foot-2 frame.

“She is an outstanding doubles player,” Mutzke said of Harkins.

“She covers all of the net so we tried not to lob it to her. We tried

to be consistent and get to the net, but they just outplayed us.”

Harkins slammed an overhand against Braverman and Mutzke that ended

in the ball sticking in the fence.

Harkins played singles while Tatsuno was in doubles in the teams’

prior match this season. Damion was paired with Mutzke and the duo

swept in that match while Braverman played singles.

“We really have two solid doubles teams,” Peninsula Coach Tom Cox

said. “When Schweyer and Aston won the first set, it was cruise

control.”

“We had to win most of the matches in the second round, but they

had the advantage in games,” Mutzke said.

The Panthers had an 18-game edge following their ninth win,

virtually sealing the victory. CdM ousted the Panthers, 11-7, in last

year’s CIF quarterfinals.

“[CdM] is the only team to beat us in a CIF final and has the best

record of any team against us,” Cox said. “We’ve lost 14 matches and

CdM has probably accounted for six of those.”

“It is disappointing to lose in the semis because my freshman and

sophomore years we went to the finals,” said Mutzke, who has narrowed

her college choices to UC Santa Barbara and UCLA.

“It was exciting to make the semifinals and we all gave our best

shot today,” said Holland, who will compete in singles in the CIF

individuals beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Costa Mesa Tennis

Center.

Holland, Manning, Mutzke, Rubenstein and Courtney Carnahan made up

CdM’s senior class.

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CIF Southern Section Division I

Semifinal Peninsula 11, CdM 7

Singles -- Holland (CdM) def. Tatsuno, 6-1, lost to Jurewitz, 4-6, def. Mahtani, 6-2; Damion (CdM) won, 6-1, lost, 0-6, 6-7 (4-7); Rubenstein (CdM) won, 7-6 (7-6), (sub) Atkins lost, 1-6, Rubenstein lost, 2-6

Doubles -- Mutzke-Braverman (CdM) lost to Weber-Harkins, 2-6, lost to Schweyer-Aston, 2-6, def. Chen-Zinkiewicz, 6-0; Steele-H. Young (CdM) lost, 2-6, 3-6, won, 7-5; Manning-M. Young (CdM) lost, 4-6, 0-6, won, 6-1.

*--*