Girls’ Tennis: CdM wins easily in regional playoff opener
There was not too much drama for the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team Tuesday in the opening round of the CIF USTA Southern California Regional Girls’ Tennis Championships.
The match against Bakersfield Stockdale started at 2 p.m. By 3:05 p.m., CdM freshman Roxy Mackenzie was the only one still competing at No. 4 singles
Five minutes later, Mackenzie had beaten Stockdale’s Anna Ashford, 6-2, 6-2, and CdM completed a 7-0 victory to advance.
Corona del Mar, which reached the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, will play Division 2 champion Arcadia in a regional quarterfinal Friday at 12:15 p.m. at The Claremont Club. The semifinals will follow at 3:15 p.m. Friday, with the championship match on Saturday.
CdM did not come into Tuesday’s match knowing much about Stockdale, which advanced to the Central Section Division 1 title match before falling to Clovis Buchanan.
“We had no idea,” said CdM senior Siena Sharf, who defeated Stockdale’s Erica Paradise, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. “We just practiced like we were coming up against a hard team.”
In the format, which features four singles and three doubles matches in a best-of-three-sets format with no-ad scoring, CdM was not challenged. Jasie Dunk beat Arianna Tilbury, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 1 singles, and the Sea Kings’ Danielle Wilson topped Emily Horrigan, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 2 singles.
CdM was also dominant in doubles. Camellia Edalat and Erica Chen beat Stockdale’s Angela Tun and Mia Sawaya, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles. Paige and Brooke Kenerson beat Kareena Parmar and Carolyn Poston at No. 2 doubles and Shaya Northrup and Bella McKinney did the same to Kayla Ko and Pooja Desai at No. 3 doubles, each by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
The visitors left quickly after the match ended, perhaps trying to get a head start on rush hour traffic. But the hosts were motivated to play, especially after losing a close 11-7 decision to Harvard-Westlake last week in the Division 1 semifinals.
“CIF ended and everything, and I don’t think people were bummed, because we knew that we would make it to regionals,” Sharf said. “We’re excited for our second chance. I feel like our team isn’t done competing ... You never know what can happen, especially with a one-match format. I feel like it can go either way. You’re either on your game or off.”
Corona del Mar is competing in the Southern California Regional tournament for the third straight year. Last year, the Sea Kings advanced to the semifinals before losing to top-seeded Peninsula. They could meet the top-seeded Panthers in the semifinals again this year if they beat Arcadia.
But Arcadia, which was not seriously challenged in its run to the Division 2 title, will be tough. The Apaches beat Sage Hill, 18-0, in the Division 2 semifinals and Murrieta Valley, 13-5, in the title match.
No. 13-seeded Arcadia blanked No. 4 Palisades, the L.A. City Section champion, 7-0, in another first-round match Tuesday.
“I think we have a pretty tough draw,” Sharf said. “We have nothing to lose, so we’ll try our hardest. We heard [Arcadia has] a very good lineup, but I think we’re more excited to go to Claremont because we made it through this round. If you make it to the last rounds, it’s always at Claremont, so getting to Claremont is always our goal no matter what tournament it’s in.”
CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said his players enjoy the different format that the Southern California Regional tournament provides. And playing a team like Arcadia, which the Sea Kings didn’t face in the regular season, is another positive aspect.
“I think we’re playing good tennis,” Gresh said. “It’ll just be a fun test playing a different team, especially with a different format. It’s just something completely different, and at the end of the season that’s kind of nice and exciting.”
