Lightning advance to semis

Chris Yemma

The Sage Hill School girls tennis team has made it as far in the

playoffs this season as they did one year ago, but the players are

looking to take it another couple of steps.

The fourth-seeded Lightning (15-6) defeated visiting Cabrillo of

Lompoc, 14-4, in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section

Division V playoffs at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club Tuesday

afternoon.

With the win, Sage Hill advances to the semifinals and will visit

top-seeded Malibu Thursday at 2 p.m.

If the Lightning pull out a victory at Malibu, they will advance

to the finals and most likely face Academy League rival and

second-seeded Fairmont Prep (18-0) -- a team they lost to twice this

season.

But Lightning Coach A.G. Longoria said he has gained a lot more

confidence in his team since entering the playoffs.

“We lost six seniors since last season so our team is really

young,” he said. “Our team had to mature a lot this season, and I was

really nervous up until about two weeks ago. But now we’re gelling.”

Tuesday’s match against Cabrillo (13-5) did not pose much of a

challenge for the Lightning. Their No. 2 singles player, Sarah

Geocaris, who usually plays in the No. 1 singles slot but was

switched at the last minute, swept her sets without losing a game,

6-0, 6-0, 6-0. Geocaris has not lost a single game, let alone a set,

since the playoffs began.

No. 1 singles player Stephanie Langer also swept her sets,

winning, 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.

Sage’s doubles play pulled through against Cabrillo, as well.

Sarah Flynn and Alle Hsu, the No. 1 doubles team, swept, 6-3, 6-1,

6-0, while the No. 2 doubles team, Salen Andrews-Carissa Cummings,

won two sets before Natalie Boras and Brina Dokich subbed in, also

winning.

“We lost a lot of good people last year, but we’ve been improving

a lot,” Cummings said. “This match was relatively easy.”

With only one senior on this season’s Lightning squad, the team,

win or lose Thursday, will be back strong next season. But the

Lightning are not concerned about next season, yet.

Team captain and senior Flynn is one of the main reasons why this

team is in the position it is right now, Longoria said. Flynn played

singles last season, but Longoria asked her to switch to doubles this

season so the team could have more doubles depth.

Now, the team is reaping the benefits of the change.

“We are a deeper in doubles,” Longoria said. “We’ve got a solid

three in doubles, whereas singles we have a solid two.”

Longoria said he is going to stick with the same game plan he’s

been doing all season for Thursday’s semifinal at Malibu. Should Sage

advance to the finals against Fairmont, though, he said was going to

switch things up a bit. He would not specify what exactly he was

going to change.

The Lightning lost to Fairmont, 11-7, Oct. 5 and lost again, 10-8,

Oct. 28.

But Longoria said the team has improved immensely.

“We don’t pad our schedule with easy opponents during the season,”

he said. “Now we’re benefiting from playing tougher opponents

earlier. We’re going to be hard to beat.”

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CIF Division V

Quarterfinals Sage Hill 14, Cabrillo 4

Singles -- Langer (SH) def. Monkemeir, 6-0, def. Schutz, 6-0, def. Vance, 6-3; Geocaris (SH) won, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0; Webb (SH) lost, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles -- Flynn-Hsu (SH) def. G. Havlicek-Dondria, 6-3, def. H. Havlicek-Brady, 6-1, def. McLain-Johnson, 6-0; Andrews-Cummings (SH) won, 6-0, 6-2, sub Boras-Dokich (SH) won, 6-2; Graham-Heyler (SH) won 6-2, 6-4, sub Han-Williams (SH) lost, 6-3.

*--*