Rooks Outmatched in Quarterfinals : Tennis: Monte Vista sophomore doesn’t let defeat in Girls’ 16 national championships get her down.

SAN DIEGO —  A wisp of a girl at 5-feet-6 and 98 pounds, Spring Valley’s Vanessa Rooks packed a wallop all week until someone walloped back.

That someone was Julie Steven, who defeated Rooks, 6-3, 6-0, Thursday morning in the quarterfinals of the United States Tennis Assn.’s Girls’ 16 national championships at Morley Field.

The loss, a day after Rooks sent fourth-seeded Janet Lee to the consolation bracket, left San Diego without representation going into today’s semifinals.

Not to worry. Rooks, a sophomore-to-be at Monte Vista High, already had the tournament of her life.

“Wednesday was definitely my biggest win,” she said. “It’s great to get a win against a national team player. After I lost the first set I said to myself, ‘Just go all out.’ Then I won the second set and was up 6-1 in the tiebreaker. She got to 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, but I just kept playing my game.”

Rooks, 15, was quick to point to the factors working for her and against her friends, all of whom were eliminated in early rounds. She took little of the credit.

“I really got a lucky draw,” she said. “They all got really tough draws and had to play top seeds right off the bat.”

Morley Field is one of Rooks’ regular practice sites and the crowd support--”there must have been 50 people cheering me on”--helped before the breaks screeched to a halt.

From the opening serve against Steven, the magic that had surrounded Rooks all week was missing. But Rooks didn’t just wilt--Steven outmuscled and outshot her.

Steven is a serve-and-volleyer among baseliners. For years, the girls’ game has been overrun by players with two-fisted backhands and little desire to come to the net.

“I need to develop my game,” Rooks said. “I really need to get to the net and hit the short ball.”

With Rooks’ petite stature, she also has a physical disadvantage.

“I just have to get stronger,” she said. “I’ve got to gain about 20 pounds to compete with national players. (Julie) was real muscular. I’m kind of scrawny.”

In size, maybe, in heart, not a chance. In an sport where lessons, travel, tournament fees and equipment add up to a big financial burden, Rooks’ hasn’t had all the advantages some players take for granted.

“We didn’t have the money to play clay courts,” she said, in reference to the Clay Court Nationals three weeks ago in Virginia.

And Rooks is presently without any coaching. She has worked under Lee Merry, who coaches several of San Diego’s top age-group players at his Escondido club, but she quit for lack of funds.

“He taught me a lot of good angles and other stuff I’ve been able to use here,” she said. “I’d like to go back, but not for a while. Some day though, I will.”

Rooks knows that one good tournament won’t change her life, but she already has designs on the pro tour.

“I want to be No. 1,” she said. “But so does everyone else. I’d like to work on my game and get a degree, but if I’m winning, I’d rather go on tour than go to college.”

Tennis Notes

The two 10:30 a.m. matches pit top-seeded Anne Miller of Midland, Mich., against unseeded Julie Scott of Tyler, Texas, and sixth-seeded Julie Steven of Wichita, Kan., against seventh-seeded Mashana Washington of Swartz Creek, Mich. In five matches, Miller has lost only 12 games, five of which she dropped Thursday against fifth-seeded Kristina Brandi of Bradenton, Fla. . . . Lomita’s Amber Basica, one of two Basica sisters in this tournament, was featured recently on a Desert Storm calendar. According to a tournament official, Amber was spotted at a concert and promoters signed her up on the spot.