Fisher, Ricker ready to lead rivals
The tennis programs at Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools have joined the Twitter age.
Those interested in Eagles girls’ tennis this fall can follow @tennis_ehs. Those wanting to stay updated with the Mustangs can follow @costamesatennis.
The tweets are fun, but to be sure, there’s a more obvious change for each program. Each has a new head coach.
Estancia High alumna Kendra Fisher, 23, is now in charge of her alma mater. Former CdM head man Brian Ricker, 54, is now leading the tennis program at Mesa.
Both coaches said they are having fun in their new roles.
Fisher, who works full-time coaching at Mesa Verde Country Club, has known many of her players for a while. She’s been coaching at Mesa Verde for nearly a decade now.
“A lot of them grew up doing the summer camp that I coached, when they were like 10,” she said.
Fisher, who takes over after longtime coach Rachel de los Santos stepped down, certainly wants the players to enjoy the sport. She even ordered new uniforms from lululemon.
But the Eagles, who finished third in the Orange Coast League last year and advanced to the wild-card round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, have not been relaxing.
Fisher and her assistant coach Cindi Flynn, who plays women’s tennis at Concordia University, have placed more of an emphasis on conditioning. It makes sense if you know about Fisher, who is a marathon runner.
“We’re having a lot of fun, but they’re also working really hard,” she said.
Senior singles player Eden Steel, a team co-captain along with fellow senior singles player Kinley Ohland, said the team has made strides with Fisher.
“She’s very energetic and you can tell that she really cares about what she does,” Steel said. “You can tell that she’s excited for the year ... I think [the energy] helped us a lot. It’s boosted our morale and brought us closer together as a team. This high spirit that we have, it motivates us.”
Ricker also believes that his players are motivated to succeed, even after a season where they went 3-10 and failed to qualify for CIF. He bumped up the total number of matches from 13 to 19 this season, he said, because his players need that experience.
Coming from a team with a talent-rich tradition like CdM, it’s an adjustment for sure.
“A large percentage of girls on our team, their first day playing tennis was their first day of practice,” Ricker said. “I’ve heard it from so many of them. You know, they’re good athletes and they’ve picked it up. At CdM, I wouldn’t take any beginners. That was the cutoff, because we had too many girls. It’s a big change for me.”
But Ricker believes that progress will be made in time. The rivals play in the Battle for the Bell matches on Oct. 6 at Estancia and Oct. 22 at Costa Mesa.
“The girls really look at it as a big rivalry,” Ricker said. “I think it’s really important. It’s fun to have such a good rivalry like this. It gives us something to work at.”
Here’s a look at the five Newport-Mesa girls’ tennis programs this fall:
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Corona del Mar
Coach: Jamie Gresh (first year)
Players to watch: Danielle Willson (Soph.); Jasie Dunk (Jr.); Siena Sharf (Sr.); Camellia Edalat (Jr.); Erica Chen (Sr.); Shaya Northrup (Fr.); Roxy Mackenzie (Fr.); Bella McKinney (Fr.).
You should know: Gresh has been CdM boys’ tennis head coach for the past three years, also took over as girls’ coach in January following the resignation of Brian Ricker, who ended up at Costa Mesa High.
CdM has advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals each of the past two seasons, and Gresh believes that’s attainable yet again as CdM is deep this year. Willson and Dunk return as the top two singles players, and Dunk’s ranking in the girls’ 16s has skyrocketed to the top 30 after a busy summer.
Sharf, Edalat and Chen are all returning doubles players from a year ago. Three freshmen on varsity is rare at CdM, but Northrup, Mackenzie and McKinney could all contribute.
The schedule, as always, is tough in both nonleague and Pacific Coast League play. The team to beat in the PCL is rival University, which has won five straight league titles.
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Costa Mesa
Coach: Brian Ricker (first year)
Players to watch: Kris Araracap (Sr.); Christine Tfaye (Sr.); Sylvia Catania (Sr.); Caitlin Wase (Sr.); Dilara Ozonur (Sr.).
You should know: Ricker is trying to build up the Mustangs’ program, and has a good core group of seniors with five returning.
He said it’s a fun group to be around. He has also beefed up the Mustangs’ schedule, from 13 matches a year ago to 19. Last year, the Mustangs had no matches before Orange Coast League play began, but this year they’ll be seven matches into the schedule at that point.
With Ricker, Costa Mesa could be a program on the rise in the future. Two years ago, the Mustangs were winless in league play, while last year they won three matches. But they have not beaten rival Estancia in recent years, a fact that is on the players’ minds. The rivals play Oct. 6 at Estancia and Oct. 22 at Costa Mesa.
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Estancia
Coach: Kendra Fisher (first year)
Players to watch: Kinley Ohland (Sr.); Eden Steel (Sr.); Delani Guyot (Jr.); Julie Makley (Jr.); Meg Tuxford (Jr.); Hannah Swift (Sr.); Lauren Weisser (Jr.).
You should know: Fisher is excited about the potential for her alma mater. It starts with Ohland and Steel, who are both returning singles starters and will be co-captains.
Ohland has previously played tennis and competed in cheerleading in the fall, but this fall she’s concentrating on tennis. She is in her fourth year at No. 1 singles for the Eagles.
Guyot and Makley are a returning doubles team for Estancia, while Weisser played at No. 1 doubles last year with graduate Morgan Miller.
In 2014, Estancia finished third in the Orange Coast League behind Laguna Beach and Calvary Chapel for the second straight year. Fisher said this year she believes her team can beat Calvary Chapel.
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Newport Harbor
Coach: Kristen Case (ninth year)
Players to watch: Jenn Kingsley (Sr.); Kendall Cosenza (Sr.); Anna Burke (Sr.); Olivia Zehnder (Sr.); Elle Zielinski (Sr.); Bailey Kruse (Sr.); Hannah Blower (Jr.); Taryn Anderson (Jr.); Eva Newsom (Jr.); Lily Walkow (Jr.); Misha Pokusa (Jr.).
You should know: The Sailors expect to bring back six starters off a team that finished second in the Sunset League and advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs before losing to rival CdM.
Case said she doesn’t want to compare the 2015 Sailors to past teams, but this has the potential to be their strongest team in years. Kingsley returns at No. 1 singles, as do Cosenza and Burke at No. 1 doubles. Zehnder and Zielinski are also key returning doubles starters.
Newport also brought up some big-time talent from the junior varsity level, where Walkow (champion) and Pokusa were Sunset League singles finalists a year ago. Anderson and Newsom lost just once all last year as a JV doubles team.
Rival Los Alamitos, which has won three straight league titles with the Sailors finishing runner-up each time, lost several starters. The Sailors play the Griffins at home Oct. 1 and on the road Oct. 20, and expect each one to be an intense match.
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Sage Hill
Coach: A.G. Longoria (15th year)
Players to watch: Catherine Kaini (Soph.); Jaclyn Gerschultz (Sr.); Connie Yu (Sr.); Isabella Deckey (Soph.); Maya Byrd (Soph.); Stephanie Beder (Soph.); Michelle Hung (Fr.); Miranda Herin (Fr.); Morgan Mann (Fr.)
You should know: Longoria said this is his most talented group in a while, and should contend for the Academy League title after placing second last year. The team also looks to improve on a CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs quarterfinal showing from last season.
Kaini, a transfer from St. Margaret’s and last year’s Academy League singles champion, moves into the No. 1 singles position and will anchor a strong lineup with Gerschultz, who is a two-time league singles MVP. The No. 1 doubles team projects to be Byrd and Hung, which Longoria likes as a lefty-righty combination.
Hung is one of five tournament-level freshmen for the Lightning this year, and is ranked in the top 100 in the Southern California girls’ 14s.
Sage Hill will host three weekend tournaments: the Lightning Invitational on Sept. 11-12, the Prep Classic Invitational on Sept. 18-19 and the Coast Cup Tournament on Oct. 2-3. The Lightning Invitational also features Newport Harbor, which has won it three of the last four years.
Sage also has a tough nonleague schedule, including home matches against Newport Harbor (Sept. 22) and CdM (Sept. 23).
