CdM duo ousted in semis

NEWPORT BEACH — Melissa Matsuoka can appreciate how a good doubles team is supposed to play.

This week, she has been part of a good one herself with her Corona del Mar High teammate Lindsay Zotovich. But, in Thursday’s girls’ 18 doubles semifinals at the 19th annual Balboa Bay Club Junior Tournament, Matsuoka and Zotovich ran into a team playing at just a bit higher level.

The sister tandem of Chun-Wing Sher and Pui-Wing Sher, from Hong Kong, ousted Matsuoka and Zotovich, 6-2, 6-4, at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.

“They were just all-around good with their volleys, their serve, their ground strokes,” said Matsuoka, who will be a junior at CdM. Zotovich will be a senior.

“They just kept getting everything back,” Matsuoka said. “That’s how a good team plays, just staying consistent, getting the ball back.”

Matsuoka had played Chun-Wing Sher at the Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic in 2003. She remembered the consistent game of the player considered one of the best juniors in Hong Kong.

“Normally, we play in women’s open tournaments [in Hong Kong],” Pui-Wing Sher said. “We just traveled here to train and play some tennis, and visit some universities.”

On Thursday, Chun-Wing, 17, and Pui-Wing, 16, had the answers. They stayed ahead throughout the first set. The second set was closer; seven of the 10 games went to deuce.

Matsuoka’s serve was broken in the fifth game, but on Zotovich’s nice volley, the CdM duo broke Pui-Wing Sher’s serve in the next game to level the set at 3-3. There were then three more breaks of serve, the last of which gave the Sher sisters a 5-4 advantage.

Matsuoka and Zotovich had a break point in the decisive game, but ultimately couldn’t convert in yet another deuce game.

The Sher sisters proved to be too consistent.

“It’s hard, but you’ve just got to keep going,” Zotovich said.

 Chun-Wing and Pui-Wing Sher will play Estancia High senior-to-be Ellie Edles and partner Sabrina Man-Son-Hing in the 18 doubles titles match today at 2 p.m.

Edles and Man-Son-Hing got by Jennifer Cornea of Anaheim and Megan Heneghan of Tustin, 6-4, 6-3, in the semifinals Thursday.

In girls’ 14 doubles, Samantha Stalder of Costa Mesa and partner Brooke Briseno lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions, No. 2-seeded Brittanie Eraso and Sara Zargham, 7-5, 7-6 (7).

Newport Beach resident Andrew Nguyen and partner Alex Tran lost in the boys’ 12 doubles semifinals to No. 2-seeded Matthew Greenberg of San Clemente and Garret Vincent of Laguna Niguel, 0-6, 6-1, 6-1.

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