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.
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