Geocaris swings a sweet song

geocaris featureSage Hill School girls’ tennis star is as impressive on the court as she is on the stage. It’s not the most daunting task in the world to sing the praises of the Sage Hill School girls’ tennis team. After all, Sage Hill is 13-2 this season and 8-0 in the Academy League.

The Lightning are ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division V, and last week, upset visiting Mater Dei, 9-9 (75-70 on games), a team which was then ranked No. 8 in CIF Division I.

Earlier this season, Sage won the Lightning Invitational -- a two-day, four-team slugfest that included Santa Ynez (ranked No. 4 in CIF Division V), Aquinas (ranked No. 5 in CIF Division V) and Westminster.

The Lightning boast three stellar singles players -- All-Academy League returners Sarah Geocaris and Stephanie Langer, along with Ashley Adams, who was undefeated as a freshman at The American School in Japan.

But nobody can sing the team’s praises better than Geocaris.

Not only is the Sage Hill junior 43-5 this season and emerging as one of the top players in the division, but she’s a classically trained opera singer and a first soprano in Sage Hill’s concert choir.

“When I was little I just sang a lot. I sang songs from cartoons, like ‘The Little Mermaid,’ ” Geocaris said. “My best friend’s mother said, ‘Why don’t you take lessons?’ ”

Geocaris learned opera in elementary school through her teacher, Christine Cornell, who taught classic opera.

“She was in a class of mine when she was 8,” Cornell said. “After that, I agreed to take her on individually. She’s an incredible singer.”

Along with singing in the Sage Hill choir, Geocaris will compete individually in early November in the preliminary auditions of the Spotlight Awards at the Los Angeles Music Center.

“I’ll be singing my pieces in closed auditions in front of four judges,” she said.

Last year, as a sophomore in high school, she made it to the semifinals. She’d like to take things up a notch this year and make it to the finals.

Geocaris can sing in French, German and Italian.

“She’s beautiful on stage,” Cornell said. “She used to be shy and reserved. She’s really blossomed.”

Grand prize finalists will perform on stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles April 29 in the Spotlight Awards Concert.

The ultimate accomplishment for Geocaris would be to win a CIF Division V team tennis title for Sage Hill and reach the finals of the Spotlight Awards.

“That would be absolutely amazing,” Geocaris said. “That would be so cool.”

But for now, Geocaris is concentrating on her tennis.

“She focuses on tennis during tennis season and in the spring, she focuses on opera,” Sage Hill Coach A.G. Longoria said.

The last couple of weeks, Geocaris’ concentration level has never been higher. In Sage Hill’s upset victory over Mater Dei, Geocaris swept her singles sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

“That was very impressive,” Longaria said. “In crunch time, Sarah always comes though.”

On Tuesday, Geocaris swept her sets, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, against Brethren Christian.

She swept again on Friday in Sage Hill’s 17-1 win over Oxford Academy.

“It’s hard to put one girl ahead of another on this team, because we have three solid singles players,” Longoria said. “But the last couple of weeks, she’s set the stage for us to play better. She always plays tough.”

Geocaris has many strengths as a tennis player, including a strong forehand, hitting on the run and smacking a well-placed backhand down the line.

“She’s gone from a baseline game to a full-court game. She’s been very steady,” Longoria said. “She’s gotten our confidence up with some big wins.”

Geocaris has helped Sage Hill reach the CIF Division V semifinals the last two years, but doesn’t want to stop this season until the team has won a CIF championship.

“I think we can do it. We’re right there. We’re so close,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of our (CIF Division V) competition in the Lightning Invitational.

“I think we have a really great chance.”

Not only is Longoria a fan of Geocaris’ skills on the tennis court, he was very impressed when he had a chance to listen to her sing.

“I was floored. She has a beautiful voice,” he said.

Which begs the question, what does the future hold for Geocaris? Will tennis be her focus, or will she be performing on stage?