High School Girls’ Tennis Preview: New additions strengthen Sunset Conference
Danielle Willson, last year’s Daily Pilot Dream Team Girls’ Tennis Player of the Year, now plays at USC. Annika Bassey is at Harvard, while Paulina Loredo suits up at the University of Rhode Island.
Graduating three seniors who are all playing NCAA Division 1 women’s tennis is impressive. The challenge this season for the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team is still finding success, a year after the Sea Kings had an undefeated run that included CIF Southern Section Division 1 and CIF USTA Southern California Regional titles.
Another undefeated season is not in the cards. The Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in Division 1, have already lost twice in 2018, including Tuesday’s 11-7 setback to former Pacific Coast League rival University. Yet, they still have talent. Senior Kristina Evloeva, a UC Davis commit who went 40-9 in singles last season, anchors the lineup at No. 1 singles. Bella McKinney and Shaya Northrup, seniors who are four-year starters in doubles, have a 13-2 record at No. 1 doubles.
“[Last year] was kind of one of those once-in-a-lifetime type of teams, but I think this team is doing a good job,” CdM coach Jamie Gresh said. “We’re fighting, we’re competing well. There’s things we can get a little sharper at … a lot of it is just handling the pressure of these big moments.”
The Sea Kings (3-2) do not expect to find much pressure in the newly formed Surf League, the upper part of the Sunset Conference. Newport Harbor, Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley are the other teams in the Surf League. Edison, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Marina will compete in the Wave League.
CdM is an obvious favorite for the Surf League title, especially with Newport Harbor and Fountain Valley perhaps not as strong as last season. But that also creates the opportunity for some of the Wave League teams to possibly win crossover matches against the Surf League schools.
Those crossover matches start Thursday, when CdM visits Edison and Huntington Beach plays at Fountain Valley. Marina plays at Newport Harbor, while Los Alamitos hosts Laguna Beach.
“A good amount of the teams are pretty much the same as last year and didn’t lose many people,” Newport Harbor coach Kristen Case said. “I think it’s going to be really exciting. I think every match is going to great competition. I don’t think you can discredit anybody in the [conference], whether it is [Wave League or Surf League]. It’s going to be fun to see how the new format plays out.”
Newport Harbor (6-2), last year’s Sunset League champion, lost league singles champion Nicole Knickerbocker to graduation but has won several close preseason matches. Juniors Amra Barton and Avery Wooden lead the Sailors at No. 1 doubles, while Lane McArdell, another junior, has the No. 1 singles spot.
Fountain Valley (3-4) is young after losing players like three-time league singles champion Hanh Pham and Vikki Nguyen to graduation. Coach Harshul Patel said his team’s strength is in doubles, where the No. 1 team is senior Charisse Vu and sophomore Kaylee Tran. Patel said his team may struggle to win matches in the Wave League.
“They’re looking at the last two years of performances [in determining the Surf League and Wave League teams], which is absolutely fine, but in this situation it did not work in our favor,” Patel said.
Laguna Beach (1-3) and Edison (4-4) each have aspirations of winning the Wave League. The Breakers are ranked No. 2 in Division 3 and have a strong No. 1 singles player in junior Ella Pachl, who advanced to the third round of the CIF Southern Section Individuals singles tournament last year. Freshmen Sarah MacCallum and Ainsley Beresford create a strong overall singles lineup, coach Rick Conkey said, while senior Nessa Kiani and freshman Camille Deckey are teamed at No. 1 doubles.
Edison coach Dave Lemons said the Chargers have never won a league title in his 11-year tenure, but Lemons said they’re looking to change that this year. Junior Zoe Coggins returns at No. 1 singles, while freshman Kailee You, junior Shannon Stolaruk and sophomore Cassey Hitch also contribute to a versatile singles lineup.
“It’s been kind of nice moving one of those girls into doubles each match, to bolster our No. 1 doubles lineup,” Lemons said. “It gives them a little bit of a rest, too. Every two or three matches they can take a break, play doubles and have some fun.”
With Laguna Beach out of the Orange Coast League, Costa Mesa co-coach Ryan Broccolo said the Mustangs’ goal is to win it this year. The Mustangs (6-2) are strong in singles with juniors Leslie Delgado, Hallie Tran and Rachel Pham.
“The last two years, we finished fourth in league,” Broccolo said. “None of our girls has made CIF … but we’ve gotten better. Our whole aggregate has improved.”
Sage Hill (4-4) has easily won its first three San Joaquin League matches. First-year coach Whit Kenerson said his team, led by senior Morgan Mann, freshman Alexis Ha and junior Miya Stauss in singles, should win the six-team league without much trouble after moving from the Academy League.
The key for the Lightning will be making a deeper run in the Division 1 playoffs, where Sage Hill has lost in the first round in each of the last two years. Working in Sage Hill’s favor is the new CIF Southern Section Open Division, which will swallow up the top eight teams in Division 1 at the end of the regular season.
“We might get a decent draw [in Division 1],” Kenerson said.
Twitter: @mjszabo
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