Brittany Holland

Steve Virgen

The work doesn’t stop for Corona del Mar High’s Brittany Holland.

It seems never ending, the quest to overcome the challenges involved

in tennis, which includes playing error-free. Luckily for Holland she

has a passion for the game. A game that can be frustrating at times,

but Holland usually ignores that part.

In the same week Holland helped bring CdM its first CIF doubles

championship since 1971, she was back in training mode, hitting and

running, preparing for her next singles tournament and further on:

Next year she will be a senior and one of the key leaders on the Sea

Kings’ tennis team.

“I’ve been working hard on my tennis, two to three hours a day,”

Holland, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, said. “I’m doing it for

the upcoming season, spring and summer because it’s going to be an

important time for me, on the national level.”

Holland pondered entering the CIF Singles Tournament this season,

but she, and her senior teammate Taylynn Snyder, had a score to

settle in doubles competition. Snyder also could have played in CIF

singles, as she was CdM’s No. 1 player for half of the season.

Holland also played as No. 1 the other half.

However, Holland and Snyder wanted to win the doubles title this

season because they finished as runner-up last season. Last year’s

finish provided motivation for Holland, and she also wanted to help

win a doubles title for Snyder because this is Snyder’s senior year.

“I was just thrilled winning (the CIF title),” Holland said. “It

was an honor. We came close last year, so we had to come back. We

work incredibly well as a team and we work together. The Fermin

sisters (Serena and Claire of Troy High) are excellent players, but

it was just our day to win it.”

With that motivation, Holland opened the title match serving for a

1-0 lead against the Troy duo. She also helped the Sea Kings break

the Fermin sisters’ first serve. But the Troy tandem broke back, and

then came a pivotal fourth game, in which the double teams battled to

a sixth deuce. During the key game, Holland engaged in a short bout

with the past.

“I was having flashbacks to last year and how close we were to

winning,” Holland said. “But then I started focusing more on this

year, because I didn’t want it to get in the way of my playing. I

just used (last year) as motivation. That game was a turning point.

That gave us momentum to carry on the rest of the match.”

With the Sea Kings on their sixth game point, Snyder fired one of

her powerful ground strokes and Serena Fermin returned it into the

net, giving the CdM duo a 3-1 lead. Then Holland served for the win

the next game, and the Sea Kings went on their way to a 6-1, 6-4

victory.

Holland and Snyder, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, plowed through

the opposition on their way to the final. They dropped only six games

combined in Round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

“We were so motivated,” Holland said. “We really wanted to win. We

didn’t really want to take anything for granted, because the Fermin

sisters are good. We wanted to focus on one point at a time and take

it from there. It’s so much fun to play with Taylynn because she is

so great out on the court and she is such a wonderful partner.”

Holland also meshed well with Snyder because they share the same

type of work ethic. It’s non-stop.