First-place CdM girls’ tennis makes puzzle pieces fit against Fountain Valley
The Cross family currently has a continuity in the Corona del Mar High tennis program.
Jack Cross graduated last spring after helping the Sea Kings boys’ tennis team advance to three straight CIF Southern Section Open Division title matches. He now plays at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
His younger sister, Julia, has stepped in this fall as a freshman on the girls’ tennis team.
Julia also possesses a level of tenacity, though she’s not quite as demonstrative on the court as her older brother — for better or worse.
“I think I’m a little bit more mature than when he was a freshman,” she said. “I mean, he would kind of go crazy, biting his racket and stuff, and be yelling when he’d be losing points. I was kind of like that in the beginning of the year, but then Jamie got on me quickly and just said, ‘Don’t do that or else I’m going to pull you out.’
“I learned a lot of good habits from my brother, but I’ve also learned some bad habits from my brother. I’m trying to just get rid of those quickly, quicker than he did.”
The gamesmanship is high with both siblings. Julia let out a yell after hitting a forehand winner on match point Tuesday afternoon against Fountain Valley junior Chloe Vu.
She won the singles set in a tiebreaker, a big victory as CdM went on to beat Fountain Valley 11-7 in a Sunset League match at the Barons’ courts.
Corona del Mar improved to 11-2 overall and 8-0 in league. The Sea Kings are in the driver’s seat for the outright league title after beating second-place Fountain Valley (9-2, 6-2) for the second time in as many meetings.
Junior Polina Briggs and Cross both swept in singles, helping CdM win eight of nine singles sets. Gigi French also won twice.
CdM had earned a 9-9 (80-75 on games) win in the teams’ first league meeting on Sept. 12, but No. 1 singles player Emilie Lew and Alex Denisova have since injured their ankles and missed Tuesday’s rematch.
However, the addition of Sasha Briggs, Polina’s twin sister, strengthened CdM’s doubles lineup from the first meeting.
“I thought we played pretty match tough today, to be honest with you,” CdM coach Jamie Gresh said, adding that boys have been coming out to practice with the girls and raising the level. “I think we’re squeezing the most out of what we have, and in the matches, I feel like we’re playing smart, competitive tennis. I’m super-proud of the girls for listening and being coachable, and making adjustments during matches. They’ve done a really good job with that.”
Sasha Briggs and partner Giulia Fontana won twice for the Sea Kings on Tuesday, while Isabel Roytman and Madi Jackson won once at No. 1 doubles.
Briggs and Fontana’s day included a 6-0 first-round win over Fountain Valley senior Katelyn Nguyen and junior Kendra Ly, which Barons coach Harshul Patel said was the first loss of the season for that tandem.
“That went by too fast,” Patel said. “When you’re playing against one of the best teams, if you don’t show up and perform every single point, that’s how your results turn out. That’s what happened today … This loss hurts, for sure.”
Cross’ close win over Vu in a marathon set in the second round, 7-5 in the tiebreaker, helped CdM take the same match lead of 7-5 after two rounds.
She avenged a 6-3 loss to Vu in their first league meeting by excelling at defensive tennis, scrambling around the court. Vu broke Cross as she was serving for the set at 5-4, with Cross throwing in two double faults, but she regrouped for the win.
“I had to dig deep in the end, because I was really exhausted,” Cross said. “I knew what it was going to come down to was who was going to fight more, who wanted it more. I really wanted that win, and I just grinded every point, tried to hit it to her backhand. I listened to Jamie, and it just all played out and I ended up winning a long match.”
The Sea Kings were up 9-7 before finishing off the match, as Cross beat fellow freshman Gabby Buhnila 6-0 and Briggs beat Vu by the same score.
The sister tandem of Katie Lam and Kacie Lam swept in doubles for Fountain Valley, while Nguyen and Ly won two doubles sets and Athena Tran and Sophia Do won once.
Corona del Mar continues league play with a home match against Marina on Thursday, while Fountain Valley hosts Los Alamitos on Oct. 15.
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