Girls’ Tennis: CdM tandem bows out
SEAL BEACH — Tears flowed freely at Seal Beach Tennis Center on Friday afternoon, not only because of the loss of a close match but because of the end of a great season.
Corona del Mar High senior Riley Gerdau and junior Siena Sharf had indeed just engaged in a close match with the sister tandem of Joy and Jay Kim of Campbell Hall.
The CIF Southern Section Individuals doubles round of 16 match had several momentum swings. The last one just didn’t favor CdM.
The Kim sisters won the last four games of the match, rallying for a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win. They advanced to play a team from Hart later Friday in the quarterfinals.
It was just the sixth loss of the season as a team for Gerdau and Sharf, who were a rock at No. 1 doubles all year for the Sea Kings.
“They had a fantastic year,” CdM Coach Brian Ricker said. “To make it to the round of 16 at Individuals is fantastic ... They played great, they played aggressive, they played steady. At the awards banquet [Thursday] night, I couldn’t list off all their big matches, because there’s too many of them. They swept almost everybody.”
Gerdau and Sharf certainly started Friday’s match strongly, easily taking the first set. But something changed after that. Joy Kim, who will play college tennis at Pomona-Pitzer, took some initiative.
“In the first set, I was lobbing to her and it was working,” Gerdau said. “She was just lobbing it back, but I can out-lob her, easily. Then she started taking my lobs out of the air. It took us some time to get used to it.”
Campbell Hall Coach Steve Kuechel implored Joy Kim, who played at No. 1 singles all year for the Vikings, to be more assertive. He said the sisters were eager to win, after CdM knocked off Campbell Hall, 11-7, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff quarterfinals last month.
“I told [Joy] in the middle of the second set, ‘You’ve got to take over,’” Kuechel said. “I think she was the best player on the court. I told her, ‘If you want to advance, you’ve got to be the best player on the court.’ But [Corona del Mar] is good ... Riley’s more consistent but Siena keeps going for the shots. The first set, they just blew us off the court, and everything they hit went in.”
Things changed. CdM led, 4-3, in the second set after breaking Jay Kim’s serve. But from there, the Campbell Hall sisters won five straight games, winning the second set and taking a 2-0 advantage in the decisive third.
Momentum continued to swing back and forth. Gerdau and Sharf again broke Jay Kim’s serve to take a 4-3 lead, and Sharf consolidated the break by holding serve herself.
But, one game away from the quarterfinals, they couldn’t close it out. After Joy Kim held serve, Gerdau was broken. Jay Kim then held, meaning Sharf had to do the same at 5-6 to extend the match.
Controversy arose at 30-all in the game, when a Sharf first serve was called just out. Gerdau and Sharf were incredulous, but the call stood.
Sharf then double-faulted, setting up match point, and the Kim sisters won the next point to close out the match.
“I probably should have taken more time,” Sharf said of her second serve following the controversial “out” call. “I was just too angry and I wanted to ace it. I need to be more mentally stable.”
Soon, the tears came, but Gerdau and Sharf were able to reflect and see the success they had this year. They swept University twice in Pacific Coast League play, including a dominating 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 effort the second time around on the road.
“I’m super-happy with how we did,” Gerdau said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
Ricker likes the aggressiveness he’s seeing from Sharf on her ground strokes. And she plans to continue playing in more tournaments, which he said is indicative of the team as a whole.
“Different teams end different ways, and I feel like our team ended [the season] excited and wanting to get better,” he said. “In the Thanksgiving tournament at Laguna Niguel, we had five players playing on Thanksgiving Day ... Everyone’s already thinking about getting better for next year, as opposed to, ‘Oh my God, that was a long season, I need to take a break.’ I feel like it’s the other way around, so the future looks good for next year.”
