Tough act to follow

Bryce Alderton

With just one senior, the Sage Hill School girls tennis team could be

considered young. But that doesn’t mean this year’s squad lacks

experience.

The Lightning lost five seniors to graduation from last year’s

team that claimed the school’s first Academy League title in a girls

sport and reached the CIF Southern Section Division V semifinals. But

eight from that team return, giving Coach A.G. Longoria confidence

another strong season may be in store.

“The best team Sage ever had was last year’s team,” said Longoria,

the only coach in the program’s four-year history. “By midseason or

the [CIF] playoffs, we should be better and mature.”

Sage Hill, ranked No. 1 in CIF Division V for most of last season,

lost the most in doubles. First-team All-Academy League selection

Jessica Tsoong, along with former team captain and second-team

all-league pick Laura Webb, were among the five players who graduated

last spring.

The Lightning, though, return three of their top singles players.

Sophomores Sarah Geocaris and Stephanie Langer, the team’s co-Most

Valuable Players as freshmen, will likely rotate at No. 1 singles,

Longoria said.

Geocaris tallied 57 wins, finished second in the league singles

tournament, earned first-team all-league recognition and also

qualified for the CIF individual tournament. Langer had 48 victories

and finished third in the league singles tournament while earning

first-team all-league laurels.

Sophomore Alle Hsu, a second-team all-league selection last year,

also returns to give the Lightning a potent top three in singles.

All three players honed their games competing in junior summer

tournaments, Longoria said.

Sophomore Alyssa Lee, the No. 1 singles player on Sage Hill’s

junior varsity team last fall, should also see time at singles,

Longoria said.

Sarah Flynn, the Lightning’s lone senior, teamed with Tsoong to

reach the league doubles final last fall, while earning first-team

all-league honors. Flynn returns to the top of the doubles draw.

Four returning second-team all-league players, including juniors

Grace Graham and Rachel Heyler, along with sophomores Salen Andrews

and Carissa Cummings, provide added doubles strength.

Freshmen Brina Dokage and Alexandra Williams, along with

sophomores Andrea Han and Emily Webb, give Longoria even more options

in doubles.

“With only one senior and two juniors, our eight sophomores and

two freshmen are going to have to grow up pretty fast if we want to

be as successful as we were last season,” he said.

Sage Hill kept busy this summer with the inaugural World Team

Tennis High School League, a CIF-approved tournament spanning four

weeks that featured competitions in boys and girls singles and

doubles, along with mixed doubles.

Sage, the only Division V school competing in the tournament, went

7-1, finishing second to Mater Dei. Geocaris claimed the girls

singles crown.

Longoria expects stiff competition once again from Fairmont Prep

in the league title race.

“Fairmont is loaded and they are always after us, so it is a good

rivalry,” Longoria said.

Sage Hill will move its home matches to the Balboa Bay Club

Racquet Club beginning this fall. The school played formerly at Park

Newport.

Longoria said a fledgling junior program at Park Newport made

securing courts a challenge and he willingly accepted finding another

venue for his team’s home matches.

Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club was also the site of the league’s

singles and doubles championships last fall.