Snyder-Holland claim CIF title

Steve Virgen

The opportunity came again for Corona del Mar High senior Taylynn

Snyder and junior Brittany Holland, and this time the Sea Kings’

girls tennis duo would not let a championship slip by.

Snyder and Holland, who finished as runner-up in last year’s CIF

Doubles Championships, scored a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Troy’s Fermin

sisters, Serena and Claire, to win the CIF doubles title Friday at

SeaCliff Country Club. The CdM duo is the first Sea King girls tandem

to win a CIF doubles title since Lily Valdes and Holly Blare did it

for Corona in 1971, the first year of the CIF Doubles Championships.

“We have more confidence,” Holland said of her team’s improvements

made since last year. “We have just gotten stronger, mentally and

physically.”

Snyder also gained the upper hand in terms of playing against

Serena Fermin, a senior who is usually a partner with Snyder in

junior tournaments. Snyder and Serena Fermin won the girls 18s

doubles title at the Ojai Tournament in 2001 and in 2000, they won

the girls 16s title at Ojai. They also won the Easter Bowl girls 14s

doubles title in 2000.

“That helped me because I knew her game better,” Snyder said of

the advantages of being Serena Fermin’s partner. “I was able to pick

up on her strengths and weaknesses.”

Snyder also used strong serving, while Holland was aggressive at

the net. The CdM duo opened the match with a 2-0 lead, as Holland

served for the first-game victory and the tandem teamed up to break

sophomore Claire Fermin’s serve.

The Fermin sisters, who were the first Troy doubles team to reach

the CIF Doubles Championships final in the boys or girls program’s

history, broke back. But Snyder and Holland won four straight games

to close out the first set.

The Sea Kings grabbed momentum with the victory that gave them a

3-1 lead. With Serena Fermin serving, the Troy tandem fought back

from a 15-40 deficit and then the doubles teams battled to a sixth

deuce. Snyder collected a winner when her return of Serena Fermin’s

serve found the corner and out of reach. Holland helped finish with a

hard hit that caused Serena Fermin to return with an error into the

net.

“When we went up 3-1, and then Brittany served for us to go up

4-1, we just knew we were going to win the championship,” Snyder

said.

The CdM tandem also built a 2-0 lead in the second set, but this

time the Fermin sisters answered with three straight wins to go up,

3-2.

Then the teams took a short break. That’s when CdM Coach Andy

Stewart came to remind his players of what took place last year.

“I just told them that, ‘it’s your serve and it’s not panic

time,’” Stewart said. “Last year, they got tight and a little timid.

But this year, I just told them to go out and get that serve.”

Snyder answered the call, serving for a 40-15 win. Then, the CdM

duo broke Claire Fermin’s serve, and when Holland served for a 40-15

win, the Sea Kings went up, 5-3, to grab control of the match.

Snyder closed out the match and helped provide the championship

when she served in the final game. She had three winners, including

an ace to go up, 40-30. For the match-winner, Snyder directed Serena

Fermin with a cross-court hit and after her return, Snyder struck

back in the opposite direction to end the match.

Earlier in the day, Snyder and Holland cruised past Dana Hills’

Kristen Wilson and Kristin Bronowicki, 6-1, 6-0. Before the final,

Snyder and Holland dropped only six games combined in Round of 16,

quarterfinal and semifinal matches.