CdM twins twice as nice

Corona del Mar twins sweep in doubles to lead Sea Kings to win over local rivals.CORONA DEL MAR -- Haley and Miranda Young consider themselves inseparable.

They’ve been that way since birth.

Twins on the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team, the two juniors have stepped up this season at a time when they were needed most.

When Sea Kings Coach Brian Ricker found out he would be without standout players Jill Damion (shoulder injury) and Ali Walters (personal reasons) this year, he came up with a strategy.

He paired the Young sisters together.

“I mentioned to them at the beginning of the year they were going to be the backbone of the team,” Ricker said. “I don’t think they understood what I meant by that. Every team has their player, or players, where they know they’re going to get three points out of them for sure ...

“We have that with them. It’s almost like starting the match up, 3-0, which is really big.”

Nearing the CIF Southern Section postseason, the Young sisters have shown everything but inexperience.

And their familiarity with each other’s playing styles has bred success, reflected Thursday in a 15-3 nonleague victory over visiting Sage Hill.

The twins swept their doubles sets, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1, to improve to 40-2 on the season, their losses coming at the hands of duos from highly ranked teams Peninsula and Troy.

The sisters’ partnership is something new for the Sea Kings (15-3, 9-1 in the Pacific Coast League), ranked No. 5 in CIF Division I this year.

As freshmen at Corona del Mar, the two played one match together as a doubles team, but disaster struck. Leading, 5-0, against a pair from Mater Dei, they crumbled and ended up losing the set.

For the rest of that season, and all of last year, they were matched up with different doubles partners.

But this season, Ricker had to implement a change with the loss of Damion and Walters.

“I knew they would do well,” Ricker said. “They’re a step above the other girls.”

The two credit their success to the fact they aren’t competitive against each other -- they just want each other to succeed.

“We have good communication,” Hayley Young said. “We usually fight, but we haven’t been doing that much this year.”

Added Miranda Young: “I think we’ve been really successful. It’s working pretty well.”

The twins’ inseparableness is evident in their choice about college -- they both want to go to the same school and play tennis.

But the college days are a long ways off for the Sea Kings juniors.

The two anchored a stifling doubles attack Thursday against the Lightning (15-3, 10-0 in the Academy League), ranked No. 1 in CIF Division V.

With help from the duos of senior Lindsay Norman and junior Kelly McKitterick, along with freshmen Danielle Kaiden and Lindsay Zotovich, the Sea Kings claimed all nine doubles points en route to the victory.

Sage Hill singles players Ashley Adams, a sophomore, and junior Sarah Geocaris earned the Lightning’s three points.

Although the Sea Kings shined all around, the play of the Young sisters didn’t go unnoticed among the visitors.

“Those twins are solid,” Sage Hill Coach A.G. Longoria said. “They play very good doubles ... I’m very impressed. I think they’re going to give everyone a run for their money in CIF.”

Nonleague

Corona del Mar 15,

Sage Hill 3

Singles -- Miller def. Adams, 6-2, def. Langer, 6-4, sub Bryan, lost to Geocaris, 6-2; Atkins (CdM) lost, 6-1, won, 6-2, 7-5; Lee (CdM) won, 6-3, 6-2, lost, 7-6.

Doubles -- H. Young-M. Young def. Hsu-Spivack, 6-1, def. Andrews-Cummings, 6-1, def. Graham-Smrecek, 6-0; Norman-McKitterick (CdM) won, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; Kaiden-Zotovich (CdM) won, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.

200510281O1KBTNFNo Caption20051028ip1nj2kn(LA)Sage Hill’s Grace Graham returns a shot as partner Jaclyn Smrecek backs her up during a doubles match against Corona del Mar. 20051028ip1njcknKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Corona del Mar’s Rachael Miller hits a shot during a match against Sage Hill on Thursday.