Girls tennis: Early exam could lead to national title for CdM

Richard Dunn

CORONA DEL MAR - It is more than the biggest nonleague match of the

season for Corona del Mar High’s girls tennis team. It could be the

biggest match, period.

The Sea Kings, who believe they’re in line for a mythical national

championship in 2001, host Peninsula today at 2 p.m. in a battle of girls

tennis superpowers.

“The girls are ready and they want to win,” CdM Coach Andy Stewart

said. “And I’m pretty pumped up myself.”

Stewart is still mystified about his team’s No. 2 Southland ranking in

the Los Angeles Times, which lists Peninsula No. 1.

“(The Panthers) probably deserve to be No. 1, because they’ve been so

good for so long, and they’re so good this year. But we’ll see how good

we are,” he said.

Stewart can’t wait to stack his singles lineup of junior Anne Yelsey,

senior Brittany Reitz and sophomore Brittany Holland against the

Panthers, who opened the season on Tuesday with a 13-5 victory over a

strong Troy High unit.

Corona del Mar (2-0) ripped traditional CIF Southern Section

large-school power Capistrano Valley, 16-2, in nonleague action Tuesday

without two of its players, including Yelsey, the 2000 Pacific Coast

League singles champion.

Reitz, last year’s CIF singles champion, was not eligible to play for

Corona del Mar last season when the host Panthers defeated the Sea Kings,

15-3, in a nonleague struggle.

Kim Singer, one of six nationally ranked players on this year’s CdM

squad, also did not play against Peninsula last year.

“Last year I still think we were the best team (in CIF, despite losing

to Division I champion Peninsula),” said Stewart, a third-year coach who

has never beaten the Panthers, who open the campaign with a 64-match

winning streak.

Corona del Mar, a heavy favorite to repeat as CIF Division IV champion

and capture the school’s seventh section title in the sport, has lost to

Peninsula three straight times.

In addition to last year’s wipeout in Rolling Hills Estates, the

Panthers defeated the Stewart-coached Sea Kings twice in 1999, including

the CIF Division I semifinals.

The Panthers, searching for their fourth straight Division I title,

are led by seniors Colby Comstock and Shilpa Joshi. They haven’t lost a

CIF match since the 1997 Division I final, when Corona del Mar beat them

under former Coach Tim Mang, who guided CdM to a mythical national title

that year, according to USA Today.

Playing No. 1 doubles for CdM, which returns 11 players from last

year’s PCL and CIF Division IV championship team, will be junior Taylynn

Snyder, who played at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai last year, and

senior Leslie Damion.

Singer, Katie Tenerelli, Sara Bryan, Amanda Rubenstein, Brittany

Minna, Hilary Fuller, Juliette Mutzke and Laura Claster are all capable

doubles players who provide the Sea Kings with a lot of depth.