Sea Kings seeded third in Division I

Richard Dunn

The Corona del Mar High girls tennis team, which opened the

campaign rated No. 1 in the Southland and has captured two straight

CIF Southern Section Division IV championships, received the third

seed in the CIF Division I Playoffs and will host Notre Dame of

Sherman Oaks in the first round Thursday at 2 p.m., the section

office announced Monday.

Coach Andy Stewart’s Sea Kings (15-3), who won the Pacific Coast

League, would face the Claremont-Aliso Niguel winner if they get past

the Knights. Corona del Mar would face Peninsula (15-2) in the

quarterfinals if both teams advance. PCL runner-up Laguna Beach is

seeded fourth in the upper half of the bracket.

Newport Harbor (13-6), which finished second in the Sea View

League to Woodbridge (16-3), will host Santa Margarita (11-7), the

third-place team from the Serra League, in the first round of the

Division I playoffs Thursday at 2 p.m.

Beverly Hills (17-0) is seeded first, followed by Calabasas

(17-2). If Newport Harbor advances to the second round, it would most

likely face South Coast League champion Dana Hills (14-3).

In Division V, Golden West League champion Costa Mesa (11-5) will

open the playoffs at home Thursday against a wild-card winner between

Montclair and host Covina today. Estancia (9-7), which finished

second in the Golden West behind Mesa, will travel to Academy League

runner-up Sage Hill (13-3) in Thursday’s first round.

“Dana Hills and Laguna Beach would be an interesting matchup

(possibly in the quarterfinals),” Stewart said of the Division I

outlook. “Laguna’s good. That means the three and four seeds are in

the same league, and University’s no slouch, either.

“I’d rather be seeded first instead of third, so we wouldn’t have

to play Peninsula (in the quarterfinals). But we lost three times

this year, so I can’t get nitpicky. Three’s about right.”

CdM lost to Dana Hills this year in a nonleague match without

Stanford-bound senior Anne Yelsey, but defeated Peninsula, 10-8, on

the road without her.

“Any time you play Peninsula, it’s always tough, but I don’t think

(the Panthers) this year are what they used to be, and my girls are

getting healthy,” said Stewart, who was without Yelsey most of the

season, while junior singles standout Brittany Holland has been

battling a groin injury.

“It’s always fun to play (Peninsula’s Panthers), and when we beat

them it’s great. We have a winning streak against them now (of two

straight) ... we’re going for three in a row. It would be nice to win

this thing. If we can beat Peninsula, Calabasas (in the presumed

semifinals) and Beverly Hills (in the finals), it would be fun. I

think we can do it -- to show who’s the best team in Southern

California.”

In addition to Yelsey and Holland, Corona del Mar is led by senior

Taylynn Snyder, the team’s No. 1 singles player. Yelsey, who missed

the season’s first half with a strained right knee, has been playing

doubles with her freshman sister, Rachel.

Holland and Snyder teamed to win the PCL doubles title, beating

the Yelsey sisters, and are aiming for a CIF doubles championship

this year, after reaching the finals in 2001.

Last year, CdM defeated Palm Desert, 13-5, in the Division IV

finals and topped Calabasas two years ago for the Division IV crown.

“We’re going to make a run at it,” Stewart said of the Division I

title. “I think we’re close to 100% healthy and Holland has been

really playing well. And Taylynn has been playing fantastic.”

Newport Harbor is led by junior Vanessa Dunlap in singles, while

A.J. Olson and Diana Khoury have been a force at No. 1 doubles for

the Tars.

Sage Hill, which starts seven freshman, is led in singles by Katie

McKitterick, Kellie Ammerman and Paige Fullmer. Golden West singles

champion Hilary Havens leads Mesa.