Tennis season ends for JV teams

Joseph Boo

Tennis season has recently ended for junior varsity tennis. Here’s

how they did:

For better or worse, Corona del Mar High was hampered by the varsity

tennis taking its players.

“During the season, we didn’t have that much to work with,” CdM JV Coach

Pat Wilson said. “We did a great job with what we had, with the varsity

taking our players.”

That might have hampered CdM’s 6-4 Pacific Coast League record and result

in a third-place finish, but the instability is a good sign for the

varsity’s future.

In CdM’s last varsity match, JV mainstay Jennifer Wong played No. 3

doubles with Sarah Bryan in the varsity’s 10-8 win over University that

clinched the PCL title for the varsity.

Rachel Colgate, Mara Shuka, Michelle Way and Kimberly Chow are the rest

of the players who comprise the majority of CdM’s JV team.

Costa Mesa has the disadvantage of little experience, but that hasn’t

stopped the Mustangs from making an impression.

“Costa Mesa improved a lot,” Wilson said. “They look pretty good.”

Considering how inexperienced Costa Mesa was coming in, compliments are a

nice indication to how far the team came.

“The majority of the girls on JV have had less than one year of

experience,” Costa Mesa JV Coach Bill Harader said.

The season had the inevitable growing pains in a 4-14 season and fourth

place in the PCL. But the players also realize that improvement is most

crucial.

“Today’s JV team is tomorrow’s varsity,” singles player Shirley Peng

said.

Peng and Shannon Maddox are the two Mustangs with previous tennis

experience. After them, the team was filled with novices. Number 3

singles player Kim Nguyen had little experience coming in.

The No. 1 doubles team of Minthy Pham and Hang Nguyen also had little

experience, but “these two improved a lot,” according to Harader.

In fact, it is the doubles teams that are most indicative of Costa Mesa.

Besides Pham-Nguyen, Alice Ho, Cindy Tran, Thao Vu and Chi Doan have

contributed for the Mustangs.

While Costa Mesa might have had a couple of players who played tennis

before, Estancia’s interim JV Coach, Rich Boyce, had the disadvantage of

having no one with previous tennis experience.

“The first time we played,” Boyce said, “it was a total disaster. But by

the end of the year, we were competitive.”

In a 0-10 PCL season, signs of encouragement are not are not in wins, but

in progress. And Estancia looks at its match with CdM as its high point

of the season.

“Against Corona, we won three sets,” Boyce said. “That’s a big victory

for us.”

Players who have emerged from the initial group of inexperienced players

are Jessica Arias, Karleen Curran, Danielle Moran and Katie Wyman. Boyce

was especially pleased with the progress of Curran.

“She was our most improved player,” he said. “She had no experience

coming in. But at the end, she looked like a pretty good tennis player.”

While Estancia is looking for a full-time JV tennis coach, Boyce enjoyed

his time with the team.

“The girls worked really, really hard,” he said. “And it was fun.”

Newport Harbor started out slowly, but momentum picked up, and the

Sailors wrapped up an undefeated season in the Sea View League.

Before league play though, Newport Harbor lost its first match, and faced

several tough battles.

“We were pulling matches out and winning important sets here and there,”

Newport Harbor JV Coach Shea Offerheld said. “We would pick up pieces and

keep going.”

While the team wasn’t the juggernaut of years’ past, there is a lot of

promise that makes the future bright. And it primarily lays on two

freshmen, Krista McIntosh and Natalie Citro, who won all their sets in

league play.

Both of them have played as a doubles team in varsity, winning one of

three sets.

Other contributors for the Sailors include singles player Cynthia

Dembler. Two seniors, Lauren Holbrook and Missy Bart, form the No. 1

doubles team. Gretchen Hudson and Christine Early were No. 2 in doubles,

and Meredith Miller and Tori Smith were No. 3.