CdM duo advances
SOUTH EL MONTE — A tennis ball from another court distracted Corona del Mar High’s Danielle Willson and Rachelle Yang of Arcadia at an inopportune moment on Tuesday afternoon.
Willson was up, 5-4, in the decisive third set, two points away from winning the match as the game had gone to deuce. She was lunging for a short half-volley near the net when the errant ball came flying over the back fence and landed just behind Yang, bouncing into the play and forcing the point to be replayed.
“Lucky,” Willson said with a smile after the match. “She was going to win that point, obviously, unless she made a careless mistake.”
Arcadia Coach Damon Lieu also had to laugh.
“If I had to bet on it, I don’t think Danielle gets to that ball [at the net],” Lieu said. “But I wouldn’t bet very much money on that.”
You can bet Willson was happy for the chance to start the point fresh, but credit her for staying focused after the replayed point. Two forehand errors from Yang later and it was suddenly over, Willson claiming a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in the CIF Southern Section Individuals singles round of 32 match at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center.
CdM senior Jasie Dunk had a much easier time advancing, routing Brianna Figueroa of Mayfair, 6-0, 6-1. Willson and Dunk join CdM’s doubles team of Camellia Edalat and Brooke Kenerson in the round of 16 that begins Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Seal Beach Tennis Center. Draws are not released until players check in.
Quarterfinal matches will follow later Wednesday, with semifinal and championship matches on Thursday.
Willson, a junior, said she felt relief after getting past Pacific League champion Yang to make the round of 16 for the second straight season. It’s the round in which she lost last season.
“I think obviously I’ve developed into a better player,” she said. “I think I can go further than [the round of 16] .... [today’s match] gives me more confidence, that I can pull through a third set against a player like that. [Yang] is a four-star [recruit on tennisrecruiting.net], she plays nationals, she travels. She’s not a bad player at all, and so I thought that was great to pull through.”
The match, which took two and a half hours, was a grind. It was by far the longest of the eight singles and doubles matches played Tuesday at Whittier Narrows.
Willson’s serve was broken twice in the first set, but she raised her level to force a decisive third set. A key moment there came serving at 2-3, when Willson saved four break points to hold serve. She then quickly won the next two games as well, claiming a 5-3 advantage.
“She weathered the storm and the pivotal game was 2-3,” CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said. “Deng had a couple of break points and made a couple of errors, but Danielle, she would bend but she wouldn’t break. Getting it three-all, that was a big hold, and you could see that gave her energy ... I just think Danielle showed a lot of composure, and that’s what got her through the finish line.”
Dunk, the Pacific Coast League singles champion, made quick work of Figueroa, a freshman who won the Suburban League. The match got a bit testy in the first set, when Dunk called for a line judge, but she was the more steady player.
“It was a nice matchup for me,” she said. “I got a little bit lucky with my draw and I’m super-excited, because the round of 16, that’s crazy. I feel like I served pretty well in the second set, but they were choppy points on both sides. But I played OK. I’ve been sick and really tired, so I don’t know. I guess it is a good confidence boost for [Wednesday].”
Dunk is playing in CIF Individuals for singles for the first time. Last year, she made it to the doubles quarterfinals with CdM graduate Siena Sharf before losing a tough three-set match to a team from Oaks Christian.
“That was terribly sad,” she said. “But I don’t know, hopefully I can match that and maybe do better.”
Gresh is just happy to have four players still competing this deep into the tournament in Dunk, Willson, Edalat and Kenerson.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic team year, and it goes to show that we have some strong players at the top of the lineup who have won a lot. It’s great for the program ... I just think it speaks volumes for where the program is going and the strength of these girls, what they’ve put in.”
