Freshman Helps Cougars Squeeze Past Griffins

Capistrano Valley advanced to the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division I girls’ tennis playoffs Saturday with a 10-8 victory over sixth-ranked Los Alamitos. The Cougars won on the strength of their singles players, who won eight of nine sets.

Jennifer Bailey and Leigh Ann Merryman swept their sets, but more surprisingly, freshman Michelle Keese won two of three sets, including 6-0 over Los Alamitos’ No. 1 Sala Satele.

“My singles [players] fought hard,” Los Alamitos Coach Debbie Fleming said. “We were just a little overmatched today.”

Fleming figured she would lose all three sets to Merryman and Bailey but she wasn’t expecting Keese to win two sets.

“Michelle played a fabulous match,” Capistrano Valley Coach Kerry Leander said. “She’s played this well all year. She’s got great groundstrokes and she’s very patient.”

Leander said he considered playing Keese in doubles Saturday.

“I kicked it around, but I went with my heart,” he said. “For once, it worked out.”

Keese’s win over Satele gave Capistrano Valley (15-6) its 10th point, but the Cougars had clinched the match because of a large margin in games. The match was close because of Los Alamitos’ dominance in doubles. It won seven of nine sets and received a sweep from the No. 1 team of Lauren Teweles and Monica Ralli.

Up next for Capistrano Valley is top-seeded Corona del Mar Tuesday. Leander realizes the balls will be coming back much faster Tuesday than they did Saturday. The site will be determined by a coin flip today.

“I just hope we get to play them here,” Leander said. “That’s worth at least another point. The one thing is we match up with them pretty well in singles.”