CdM gets by Uni, wins 11th straight

IRVINE — The Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis dynasty in the Pacific Coast League rolled on Tuesday. But not without an unexpected extra commute.

The Sea Kings defeated host University, 10-8, to claim their 11th consecutive league championship in a match that started on the Trojans’ campus, then, after darkness interrupted play one point into a tiebreaker in the final doubles set, ended at the Racquet Club of Irvine.

And what a finish it was.

Melissa Matsuoka, who said she had a 103-degree fever Tuesday morning, teamed with fellow senior Elizabeth Nguyen to win the decisive set, 7-6 (7-5) against University’s Remi Sutton and Krystal Lai.

The two Sea Kings said the five-minute drive to RCI, in the back seat of their father’s car, with CdM Coach Brian Ricker in the front passenger seat, helped them collect themselves in the clutch situation.

“I think we calmed down in the car and were able to concentrate on the match,” said Dartmouth-bound Matsuoka, typically the Sea Kings’ No. 1 singles player, who was shifted to No. 3 doubles due to her illness.

Ricker said he also took the opportunity on the short drive to do a little coaching.

“My advice to them was: Stay calm, play your game and go for a few shots,” Ricker said. “They had kind of gotten into he high-moonball rallies with those girls. And, especially, I wanted Melissa to go down the line at least once or twice. She did once right there at the end [to go up, 6-5, in the tiebreaker]. I don’t know if [that shot] was because I said that, or it was just her natural instinct. But it was a great instinct on her part and it worked out for us.”

With the win, CdM (15-1, 6-0 in league), ranked No, 4 in CIF Southern Section Division I, will almost certainly earn a top-four seed in the upcoming CIF playoffs.

CdM swept nine doubles sets and sophomore Katelyn Nguyen, playing No. 1 singles, rallied from a 4-1 deficit to earn a 6-4 win over Hayley Thompson to give the visitors their lone singles win in the third round. Katelyn Nguyen’s victory allowed Matsuoka and Elizabeth Nguyen, who subbed in for freshman Alison Ishii after the first round, to finish off the match.

Kelli Feeley and Azadeh Noremi swept, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, at No. 1 doubles for the Sea Kings, for whom Hailey Hogan and Kalika Slevcove swept, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2 doubles.

“This feels great,” Elizabeth Nguyen said after the clinching triumph under the lights at RCI. “This is the 11th straight year, so it’s good to keep the streak alive.”

Said Matsuoka, who won the final set of the match in singles in the first meeting against University, a match tied, 9-9, that CdM won on games: “This league title is definitely the most memorable, because it’s our senior year and our last year to shine in high school tennis.”

Ricker estimated that Matsuoka would have been at 80% strength in the singles lineup, but was at about 90% having to cover just half the court in doubles.

“We decided during the day that she was too sick to play singles,” Ricker said.

Uni Coach John Kessler, whose team fell to 13-3, 4-2, cited Katelyn Nguyen’s win in singles as the key.

“She played great and that was the match,” Kessler said. “Matsuoka was a guaranteed three wins in singles, but they had to put her at doubles. That’s the only reason this match was as close as it was. I give all the credit to CdM, which came in here with a banged-up lineup and did what it had to do.”