CdM’s Willson finally wins Pacific Coast League girls’ tennis singles title

Reporting from irvine —  Senior Danielle Willson has made the Pacific Coast League girls’ tennis singles title match every year during her Corona del Mar High career.

Making the top two in league already qualified Willson for the CIF Southern Section Individuals tournament each time. But in each of her first three years of high school, Willson lost in the league finals. In her final year, the league title surely would mean a lot.

Willson broke through on Monday at Beckman High, overcoming a slow start to defeat University sophomore Cami Brown 8-4 in a pro set for her first league singles title.

It was part of a sweep for the Sea Kings. CdM senior Paulina Loredo and junior Shaya Northrup outlasted teammates Annika Bassey and Kristina Evloeva 8-7 (7-5 in a tiebreaker) for the doubles title.

All five CdM finalists advance to the CIF Individuals tournament, which begins Nov. 20.

“It feels really good to keep progressing, see improvement,” said Willson, who beat Shweta Kumar of Northwood 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals. “It feels good for me as a senior to get to the finals and win it, especially since it’s the first time. It’s also really cool to see CdM playing in the finals of doubles, too. It just shows how deep we are and how far we can go, we just have to have the belief and the confidence to do it.”

Willson, the top seed in the tournament, had her serve broken in the first game against Brown, and she fell behind 0-2. But she won five straight games for a 5-2 advantage.

With Brown serving at 4-7, Willson won the set after converting her third set point.

“I thought I got most of the long rallies today, which was good,” Willson said. “I think that’s kind of what flipped the match. If it went the other way, it would have been a totally different match. But on those long rallies, for me to just keep the ball in play and get another ball back so maybe she’ll miss it, that was key to that set.”

Northrup and Loredo had a lengthy path to the final. They topped CdM teammates Roxy MacKenzie and Bella McKinney 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a semifinal match that took just more than two hours to complete.

“That was really close,” Northrup said. “Having to play against two of your teammates, especially close friends, too, it was kind of difficult. You kind of just have to go with the flow. You can’t really do anything about it.”

Bassey and Evloeva beat University’s Emily Markus and Mya Wang 6-4, 6-1 in their semifinal match.

The doubles title match was another case of friends facing off. Northrup and Loredo went up 7-4, then saw top-seeded Bassey and Evloeva win three straight games to force the tiebreaker. But there, it was Northrup and Loredo, who played at No. 1 doubles for much of CdM’s season, who calmly finished it off.

“The semifinals were so stressful,” said Loredo, the transfer from Texas. “In the second match we were a little more relaxed.”

CdM freshman Lauren Friedman lost to Brown 6-0, 6-0 in a singles semifinal. But Friedman came back for an 8-6 win over Kumar in the singles third-place match and will be an alternate for the CIF Individuals tournament.

MacKenzie and McKinney lost 8-2 to Markus and Wang in the doubles third-place mach.

Overall, CdM coach Jamie Gresh couldn’t be upset with eight combined CdM players in the singles and doubles semifinals. For now, the Sea Kings can focus on team goals, as they are the top-seeded team in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and begin with a home match in the second round on Friday.

CdM, which earned a first-round bye, will play the winner of Wednesday’s first-round match between Arroyo Grande and Santa Barbara San Marcos.

“I thought the level of play was high today,” Gresh said. “Sometimes the level can really drop down when you’re playing your teammates, because it’s a little bit awkward, but I thought the girls really embraced it. I just wanted them to really focus on competing well, but also being very sportsmanlike.”

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