Clubmates Run Into Each Other in Tennis Final

SAN DIEGO —  The top high school girls’ tennis players in the San Diego Section travel a number of different roads, but almost all of those roads intersect at Tennis Escondido.

Both singles finalists in today’s match at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club train at Tennis Escondido under pros Woody Blocker and Lee Merry. In fact, 9 of the top 10 seeds in the original draw do.

One survivor is sophomore Angelica Gavaldon, the No. 1 seed from Our Lady of Peace Academy and Merry’s pupil for 4 years. Gavaldon, who now lives in Coronado, lived in Tijuana for 12 years.

Gavaldon will play No. 2 Beth Choate of San Pasqual, a senior who has worked with Blocker on and off for 9 years. After changing coaches for 2 years, Choate talked her parents into letting her follow Blocker and move from North Carolina to Escondido.

Gavaldon and Choate have hit together and played one practice match--”She won,” Choate said, “but it was really close.”--but have yet to meet in tournament play.

Gavaldon, the defending section singles champion, last year was the first freshman to win it and can put herself in another distinct class. A victory today will make her only the second player since the 1978 and 1979 finals--when Maria Pe of Hilltop won--to win back-to-back championships.

Gavaldon said she doesn’t want to think about consecutive victories before her match. “I think Beth’s a really good player, and I can’t tell you what I’ll do against her, but I’ll do my best,” she said.

Still, she admitted, back-to-back titles would be nice. “I would really like to win again,” Gavaldon said, “for my school. My school’s small, and it’s nice to see them put posters up for me, and support. My principal even came out to watch me play last year.”

In playing Gavaldon, Choate said she knows what she is up against. “Sure I think I have a chance to win, but I also think I have a chance to lose. There’s just no way I can relax against her.”

Gavaldon advanced with a 6-0, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Veena Prabhaker of Bonita Vista, then went on to defeat eighth-seeded Branaca Elsberry of the Bishop’s School, 6-2, 6-1, in a semifinal.

“Sometimes I lose my concentration,” Gavaldon said. “When I was up 3-1 in the first against Branaca, I got a little behind, but then I settled down.”

Choate, who lost in the quarterfinals last year, defeated No. 3-seeded Laura Richards of Vista, 6-3, 6-3, in the other semifinal. She defeated 10th-seeded Roseann Alva of Carlsbad, 6-0, 6-4, in her quarterfinal.

“I just played to her forehand, basically, and tried to hold onto the ball,” Choate said.

In doubles, the final will be contested by the top-seeded teams--No. 1 Kim and Heidi Djanogly of San Dieguito and No. 2 Lynn Coakley and Pam Brown of Bishop’s.

The Djanogly sisters (Kim is a freshman, Heidi a junior) defeated No. 3 Connie Carbone and Jennifer Stanford of Bonita Vista, 6-1, 6-3. Coakley and Brown were 6-3, 6-2 winners over Julie Brown and Sarah Stolberg of San Dieguito.