Damion leads CdM in win

Sophomore Jill Damion swept all three of her singles sets while

freshman Alexandra Walters won twice to help the Corona del Mar High

girls tennis team reach the CIF Southern Section Division I

semifinals for a third straight season following an 11-7 triumph over host Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

The doubles teams of Hayley Young and Jami Steele, along with

Miranda Young and Rachael Miller, each claimed two sets for the

third-seeded Sea Kings (18-3), who host Calabasas (19-0), the No. 2 seed, at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Damion, who has won eight of nine sets in these playoffs, got the

Sea Kings off to a good start against the Wolverines (16-4) with a

6-3 victory over Hilary Barte, who is ranked 23rd in the United

States Tennis Association’s girls 16s national standings.

“It’s one of the best matches of my life,” said Damion, reached by

cell phone Tuesday. “I played [Barte] in a tournament once before and

got killed. I was a bit nervous going in, but started off well.”

Damion took a 5-1 lead before Barte crept to within 5-3 and Damion

serving.

“I got a bit nervous and we had a really long rally of about 10

match points,” said Damion, who claimed the Pacific Coast League

doubles championship with Walters. “I kept at it and won [match]

point.

“I was moving the ball around the court well.”

Hayley Young and Steele improved to 6-1 this postseason while the

duo of Michelle Atkins and Roxanne Kaiden claimed one set.

Junior Lindsay Norman also claimed a set for the Sea Kings.

“It was a total team effort [Tuesday],” CdM first-year coach Brian

Ricker said. “Damion had a gigantic win.”

Ricker also praised Walters, who avenged an earlier loss to

Harvard-Westlake’s second-best player, Natasha Brown, with a 6-0

victory Thursday.

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CIF Division I

Quarterfinal Corona del Mar 11, Harvard-Westlake 7

Singles -- Damion (CdM) def. Barte, 6-3, def. Horn, 6-0, def. Brown, 6-2; Walters (CdM) lost, 0-6, won, 6-0, 6-4; Bryan (CdM) lost, 0-6, (sub) Norman (CdM) won, 6-4, lost 1-6.

Doubles -- H. Young-Steele (CdM) lost to Harper-Kasmick, 4-6; def. Smith-Wyler, 6-2, def. Hwang-Hoy, 6-1; M. Young-Miller (CdM) lost, 2-6, won, 6-0, 6-2; Atkins-Kaiden (CdM) lost, 1-6, 5-7, 6-3.

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