Lightning doubles up in finals

Sage Hill wins Academy League girls’ tennis titles in singles and doubles, but with a few somewhat surprising names.NEWPORT BEACH -- Most teams would be pretty shocked if anyone but their No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles team reached the league finals.

But for the Sage Hill School girls’ tennis team, no one was particularly shocked when No. 3 singles player Stephanie Langer reached the Academy League finals Saturday. Or when she defeated Fairmont Prep’s Anya Walinowicz, 6-1, 6-4, to take the league singles title at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.

And it was no big surprise when it was Sage Hill’s No. 3 team of Carissa Cummings and Salen Andrews that won the doubles title.

“It’s not that surprising. On any given day, anyone on this team can beat anyone else on the team,” Sage Hill Coach A.G. Longoria said.

There’s no big discrepancy between Sage Hill’s singles players. They’ve all rotated in and out of the No. 1 spot at one point or another.

Typically, the No. 1 singles player has been Sarah Geocaris, who was 40-0 in the Academy League this season. But Geocaris played with strep throat on Friday, beating Brethren Christian’s Katie Pringle, 6-0, 6-1, before losing to Walinowicz, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round.

“She probably shouldn’t have played,” Longoria said.

Sage Hill still dominated the league finals, in part because there is no fall-off after Geocaris. Ashley Adams, usually Sage Hill’s No. 2 player, went 39-0 in league and No. 3 Langer had a 39-1 league mark.

Sure enough, Adams and Langer met in the semifinals Saturday, with Langer prevailing, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

“I had no idea I’d reach the finals,” Langer said. “Every time I play Ashley, we trade off winning. One time she wins, the next time I win. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Langer swept past Walinowicz in the final. In the first set, she recovered from getting broken to win five straight games. She trailed, 4-3, in the second set, before rallying again to win three straight games, the match and the tournament singles title.

“Patience was definitely the key for me,” Langer said. “I had to use a lot of patience with both Ashley and Anya. I had to stay back and be consistent.”

It marked Langer’s first tournament championship appearance.

“It feels great,” she said. “It’s just great to get to the finals. It’s an honor just to be here with all of these great players.”

Both Walinowicz and Langer will represent the Academy League in the CIF Southern Section Individual Sectionals Nov. 19.

In the doubles final, No. 2-seed Katherine McIntyre and Audrey Jacobs of St. Margaret’s led No. 4-seed Cummings and Andrews after the first set, 6-2. Cummings and Andrews had a 6-5 (40-0) lead in the second set when McIntyre suffered a knee injury. The St. Margaret’s duo had to retire and the match was awarded to Cummings and Andrews.

Both teams still qualified for the CIF individual tournament.

Three of the four doubles semifinalists were from Sage Hill. In the all-Sage Hill doubles semifinal, Cummings and Andrews upset No. 1 seed Alle Hsu and Erica Spivack, 6-2, 7-6. McIntyre and Jacobs defeated No. 3-seed Grace Graham and Jaclyn Smrecek of Sage Hill, 6-2, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

In the third-place singles match, Adams defeated Capistrano Valley Christian’s Kristina Drymkowski, 6-4, 6-1.

The third-place doubles match featured No. 1-seed Hsu and Spivack and No. 3-seed Graham and Smrecek. Hsu and Spivack prevailed, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Prior to the start of the league tournament, Geocaris was voted the league MVP in singles, and the team of Hsu and Spivack was voted the league MVP in doubles. It marks the second straight year that Hsu has been voted doubles MVP. Last year, Hsu and Sarah Flynn attained the honor.

“We took a third place, two firsts and two MVPs -- can’t do much better than that,” Longoria said.

The Lightning can now look ahead to the CIF Southern Section Division V team playoffs. Sage Hill, ranked No. 1 in Division V all season long, expects to get a first-round home match on Thursday.

The CIF Southern Section is slated to announce the playoff pairings on Monday at 1 p.m.

Sage Hill has reached the CIF Division V semifinals the last two years, losing to Malibu, 10-8, both times. The Lightning think they can take a step further this season and reach the championship match.

“I think we have a good chance,” Langer said. “Ashley joining the team made us so much stronger in singles, and our doubles teams are as strong as ever.”

Longoria says he expects Geocaris to be ready to go, come playoff time.

“We don’t play until Thursday, she should be OK by then,” he said.

Academy League finals

Singles final: Langer (SH) def. Walinowicz (FP), 6-1, 6-4.

Singles semifinals: Langer def. Adams (SH), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Walinowicz def. Drymkowski (CVC), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Doubles final: Cummings-Andrews (SH) def. McIntyre-Jacobs (SM), 2-6, 6-5 (ret.).

Doubles semifinals: Cummings-Andrews def. Hsu-Spivack (SH), 6-2, 7-6; McIntyre-Jacobs def. Graham-Smrecek (SH), 6-2, 6-2.

20051106ipic5uknMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Sage Hill’s Ashley Adams hits a backhand in Saturday’s Academy League singles final against teammate Stephanie Langer.