Sailors can’t quite conquer Griffins

NEWPORT BEACH — Liz Cramer was at the net, and her opponent’s shot went past her and just long past the baseline.

“Out!” called half-a-dozen of her Newport Harbor High girls’ tennis teammates, sitting on the adjacent court watching the last set of the match.

The ball just missed by inches, sort of like the Sailors. Cramer held on to win the last set over Los Alamitos’ Tricia Mar, but by then the Griffins had already clinched the Sunset League match, 10-8, over the Sailors on Thursday at Newport Harbor High.

Los Alamitos (9-2, 5-0 in league), the No. 6-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division II coaches’ poll, completes an undefeated first round of league play. No. 10-ranked Newport Harbor (11-2, 3-2) falls into third in league, also behind Esperanza.

Cramer, the Sailors junior who won the league’s junior varsity singles title a year ago, hung on for the 6-4 victory in her last set by virtue of her consistent game. Her sets usually take a while, because her game is to get everything back.

“I felt good going into [the last set],” said Cramer, who won two of her three sets at No. 3 singles. “I knew I had to win for us to have a fighting chance. I think we were evenly matched, but I stayed positive. I just try to get everything in, and when I get a chance to hit a winner, then I’ll go for it.”

Newport Harbor was tied with Los Alamitos, 3-3, after the first go-round. The No. 2 doubles team of Allie Shea and Avalon Sigalos assured that, winning a thrilling tiebreaker set in their first match. They were down, 3-1, in the tiebreaker before seizing control.

“That was huge,” Newport Harbor Coach Kristen Case said. “We got adrenaline pumping and we were all excited. I was really proud of them to pull that set out. That was a great set of doubles.”

But Case added that the thrill might have been part of the problem.

“I think in a way we got almost overly excited,” she said. “It’s good to play pumped, but when you lose your focus, it’s draining. The first game of the second round, they played great, then I slowly saw their energy start to fade. That was key for us, because our third round, they all went out and played great. I think our downfall in this match was unsteady energy.”

Los Al won five of six sets in the second round, all but clinching the match with an 8-4 advantage. That included a win at No. 3 doubles, by the Griffins’ Christina Powers and Alexia Zambos, against the Sailors’ No. 1 team.

“We have strong No. 1 and 2 doubles,” Los Alamitos Coach Debbie Fleming said. “They’ll play strong at the top, and we hope for a win at No. 3. We got that today.”

After the match, the Sailors weren’t too down, though. They gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” to Sigalos.

“Knowing them and what strong individuals they are, [today] they’ll be back and they’ll be ready to play again,” Case said.

Ariana Cernius and Natalie Small also won two doubles sets for Newport Harbor.

Sunset League

Los Alamitos 10, Newport Harbor 8

Singles – McIntosh (NH) lost to Nafarette, 3-6, lost to Mar, 6-7 (2-7), def. Scott, 6-1; Gelbaum (NH) lost, 2-6, 1-6, won, 6-0; Cramer (NH) lost, 0-6, won, 6-4, 6-0.

Doubles – Sowers-Kahn (NH) lost to Moore-Bales, 0-6, lost to Gahungu-Lin, 2-6, lost to Powers-Zambos, 4-6; Sigalos-Shea (NH) lost, 1-6, won, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; Cernius-Small (NH) won, 6-4, lost, 3-6, won, 6-2.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.