CdM returns to CIF-SS Division 1 girls’ tennis semifinals

There is certainly a perceived pressure being a freshman starter in a prestigious program like the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team.

For most of the year the Sea Kings have had not one but two freshmen, Bella McKinney and Shaya Northrup, playing together at No. 3 doubles.

That may not have always sat well with some of the older girls on the Sea Kings roster.

“With some of the girls not agreeing with us being in the starting lineup, I think Bella and I have kept our heads up high,” Northrup said.

McKinney and Northrup have certainly taken their lumps with the Sea Kings’ challenging schedule. But they have proven resilient. And, on Monday, they certainly picked a good time to have their best match of the season.

They swept three sets for the first time this year and Corona del Mar beat San Clemente, 14-4, at home in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

No. 2-seeded Corona del Mar (20-1) is in the semifinals for the third straight year. The Sea Kings, a win away from their first finals appearance since 2008, won the coin flip and will play host to Harvard-Westlake on Wednesday.

Harvard-Westlake upset No. 3-seeded Mira Costa, 10-8, in another quarterfinal match Monday.

CdM used a balanced effort to beat San Clemente (15-3). The Sea Kings won eight of nine doubles sets, as Camellia Edalat and Erica Chen also swept, while Paige and Brooke Kenerson won twice at No. 2 doubles.

In singles, the Sea Kings won six sets, a good number considering the Tritons’ strong singles lineup. Danielle Willson swept, while Siena Sharf won twice and Jasie Dunk one set.

All three singles players came up big in the opening round, helping CdM earn a 6-0 lead in sets. Dunk got past San Clemente’s top player Lindsay Hung, 6-4, and Willson topped Sami Neilson, 6-3. Then Sharf rallied to defeat Natalie Nasongkhla, 7-6 (7-4).

Nasongkhla served for the set at 5-4 but was broken, and Sharf eventually forced the tiebreaker. There, she rallied from a 3-0 deficit.

“Doubles played a great first round, and then singles we were in some battles,” CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said. “The singles first round was key, I think, to win 7-6, 6-4 and 6-3. If we go 3-3 [after the first round], that’s a different match right there.

“I felt like we played really good doubles today. Our doubles has started to click a little bit more, and our singles girls have been challenged in the last two matches, with Oaks Christian and this one. They both had good singles lineups. It’s going to be tough in the playoffs to win six or seven singles [sets], so to win six today against a good team, I thought that’s a good result ... Our singles girls are competing really well and they’re in every set.”

After taking the 6-0 advantage, CdM quickly clinched the match. It also didn’t help the Tritons that Hung, the South Coast League singles champion, started cramping up late in her second set against Willson. She had to retire with Willson up, 4-1, and San Clemente Coach John Stephens was forced to substitute in Ariana Safavieh for the third round.

It didn’t really make a difference, though, with CdM’s doubles dominance. Edalat and Chen swept easily, 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, and McKinney and Northrup’s day included an impressive 6-0 win over San Clemente’s No.1 team.

McKinney said the fact that they won their final set Friday at Oaks Christian in the second round gave them confidence on Monday.

“I just think when we stepped on the court, we had momentum right from the beginning,” McKinney said. “I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am, and Shaya and I just worked really well together today. That helped us get through all three matches.”

Northrup agreed.

“I think we both hit really good ground strokes at the right times, and in crucial situations we pulled through,” she said. “So that helped.”

CdM will need more clutch performances to beat Harvard-Westlake, the Mission League champion. The Wolverines boast strong players including senior Juliana Simon, a Brown University commit, as well as junior Jenna Moustafa and freshmen Jennifer Gadalov and Amanda Chan.

Many of CdM’s players know Moustafa, as she lived in Newport Coast before moving to the Los Angeles area prior to high school.

“It sounds like they just have a well-rounded team,” Gresh said of the Wolverines. “To beat Mira Costa 10-8, you’ve got to have depth at a lot of the spots. I expect a close match that could probably go either way. I do feel that our girls are playing some good tennis at the right time, and I feel like our strength of schedule has helped us in some of these playoff matches ... We’re kind of hitting our stride.”

By advancing to the Division 1 semifinals, CdM also has qualified for next week’s CIF State Southern California Regional tournament.