Southern Section Tennis Championships : Corona del Mar Finds the Right Combination

Corona del Mar High School defeated Miraleste by the slightest of margins to win the 4-A girls’ team tennis championship Tuesday at The Claremont Club in Claremont.

The match was tied, 9-9, but Corona del Mar gained the victory on number of games won, 71-65.

“I thought if we went 9-all, we’d lose for sure,” said Dave Heffern, Corona del Mar coach.

Heffern was not particularly confident of the Sea Kings’ chances before the final.

After all, Miraleste had been to the final 6 consecutive seasons and was the defending champion. Corona del Mar was playing in its first 4-A final.

Miraleste was top-seeded and unbeaten entering the final. Corona del Mar was second-seeded and had lost to Miraleste, 13-5, during the regular season.

But Heffern made a lineup change that helped this time.

Kristy Phebus and Robin Bain had played No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, in the first meeting. This time, he paired Kristy Phebus and Bain at No. 1 doubles.

“They just hammered them,” Heffern said.

Kristy Phebus and Bain won 2 of 3 sets, 6-0, before dropping the third, 6-4.

“I wasn’t confident at all, but I thought we could beat them,” Heffern said. “I thought we had no chance of beating them the other way.”

Keri Phebus, Corona del Mar’s No. 1 singles player, and Iliana Adame, No. 2 player, each took two of three sets.

Neither player could beat Kim Po, Miraleste’s No. 1 singles player. But Phebus lost, 6-4, and Adame lost, 6-3, which added to the Sea Kings’ game total.

In the 3-A final:

San Marino 11, Capistrano Valley 7--Capistrano Valley came close, but couldn’t shake a fourth consecutive 3-A title away from San Marino at The Claremont Club.

Nicole Hummel, San Marino’s No. 1 singles player, swept her three sets, but had to struggle for a 7-5 victory over Michelle Foster, Capistrano Valley’s No. 1 player.

Foster won two of three sets, but it wasn’t enough for the Cougars, who finished with a 20-2 record.

“I have no complaints,” Capistrano Valley Coach Kerry Leander said. “We played them tough. I really can’t pin it on any one thing.”

San Marino (23-1) won five of nine singles sets and six of nine doubles sets.

The Titans’ No. 1 doubles team of Roxy Protasovicki and Amy Okum swept, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. And San Marino’s No. 2 team of Kelly Ching and Mei-Lin Kong also swept, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1.