Sea Kings’ reign ends

CLAREMONT — There was no time Monday afternoon for the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team to feel concerned.

At least, not about tennis.

The Sea Kings lost to Dana Hills, 12-6, in the CIF Southern Section Division I championship match at The Claremont Club, meaning they won’t defend their Division I title of a year ago.

But the larger concern was for CdM junior Paige Polizois, who had to be taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center for X-rays after an accident on the court.

Polizois was hit behind the right ear by a first serve from doubles partner Danielle Kaiden during the duo’s last match of the day. She was able to move her head with no pain after lying on the court for several minutes, CdM Coach Brian Ricker said.

The X-rays were negative and Polizois was released from the hospital, Ricker said. But it made for a strange ending to a championship match — due to the uncertainty at the time of Polizois’ condition, there was no official awards presentation.

“The girls have already forgotten about the match,” Ricker said moments after it ended. “Immediately, they forgot about the match. They all care about each other. This has been a good team that way, really rallying around each other at every opportunity.”

No. 3-seeded Corona del Mar (20-3) did that for most of the day against top-seeded Dana Hills (21-0). The match was tied, 3-3, after the first go-round, with CdM sophomore Melissa Matsuoka earning a big 6-1 win over Dana Hills junior Kristina Smith at No. 2 singles.

When the teams played in a nonleague match on Oct. 3, Dana Hills won, 13-5, as Kristina Smith, Brynn Boren and Joanna Smith swept their singles sets. Boren and Kristina Smith each beat Matsuoka, 6-0, in that first encounter.

But Matsuoka won two sets Monday, also beating Boren, 6-4.

CdM sophomore Hailey Hogan lost a pair of tough sets Monday to Boren (losing in a tiebreaker) and Kristina Smith (5-7), but also bettered her scores from the first meeting.

“I think we were really concentrating on each and every match,” Matsuoka said. “Today, I just came out and tried my best and had a much better day.”

CdM, which had juniors Lindsay Zotovich and Karen Ishii sweep at No. 1 doubles, nearly tied the score at 6-6 after the second go-round as well. But, in the last match of the round, the Dolphins doubles team of Leyla Simmons and Victoria Wing edged Polizois and Kaiden, 7-6 (8-6).

Simmons and Wing saved three match points in the tiebreaker, giving their team a 7-5 sets advantage.

“That was huge,” Dana Hills Coach Jim Wilson said. “The first time we played them, we sort of steamrolled them in singles. But I knew that CdM would come out and battle, and battle [the Sea Kings] did. I mean 3-3 and it’s a tiebreaker at the end of that second round that leads us in at 7-5.”

The Dolphins seemed to carry that momentum into the final round, where they won five of six sets to clinch their first CIF title since 1997. Kristina Smith’s 7-5 victory over Hogan gave Dana Hills its 10th set.

For the Sea Kings, though, it was the battle they showed that made Ricker proud.

“The mood was completely different [than after the lopsided nonleague loss to Dana Hills],” Ricker said. “Until we lost that [tiebreaker], it would have been 6-6. I couldn’t be more proud of how they came up here and forgot about the whooping, and stepped out there to compete.”

And, as CdM should return nearly every significant player next year, except senior Kate Stimac, Ishii said she looks forward to the future of the program.

“It’s exciting,” Ishii said. “I think this season was more about the girls getting to know each other as a team. We had so many losses [from last year], especially in singles, but Hailey and Melissa stepped it up and all the girls from JV also stepped it up.

“We went out swinging. I don’t have any regrets.”

CIF Southern Section

Division I playoffs

Final

Dana Hills 12, Corona del Mar 6

Singles – Hogan (CdM) lost to Boren, 6-7 (5-7), lost to K. Smith, 5-7, lost to J. Smith, 2-6; Matsuoka (CdM) won, 6-4, 6-1, lost, 2-6; (sub) Nazemi (CdM) lost, 0-6, 0-6, Stimac (CdM) lost, 1-6.

Doubles – Ishii-Zotovich (CdM) def. Wing-Simmons, 7-5, def. Wilke-Beck, 6-0, def. Leech-Pletcher, 6-4; Kaiden-Polizois (CdM) lost, 6-7 (6-8), won, 6-1, lost, 1-6 (ret.); (sub) Feeley-Beyer (CdM) lost, 0-6, 2-6, Feeley-Nguyen (CdM) lost, 3-6.

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