Five from CdM advance in CIF Individuals girls’ tennis tournament

Reporting from Claremont —  Members of the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team are becoming very familiar with the 47-mile drive from Newport Beach to the Claremont Club.

The Sea Kings won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title there on Nov. 17, and competed there again Friday and Saturday in the CIF USTA Southern California Regional tournament that CdM also ultimately won.

Five from the team — Danielle Willson, Paulina Loredo, Shaya Northrup, Annika Bassey and Kristina Evloeva — again made the trek to the club Monday for the first day of the CIF Southern Section Individuals tournament.

“Actually, it’s kind of good,” Willson said. “We’ve already played on this court a lot of times this year. I think it’s good to get the feel of the court, and it’s a nice club.”

They won’t have to return to Claremont this season, but they will continue to play in the CIF Southern Section Individuals tournament next week. Willson in singles, as well as the doubles teams of Loredo and Northrup, and Bassey and Evloeva, each had a first-round bye Monday then won twice to advance past the sectional round.

Laguna Beach sophomore Ella Pachl came close to advancing as well. The Orange Coast League singles champion also had a first-round bye, and then beat Lindsey Brown of Alta Loma 6-1, 6-0, before losing a marathon third-round match to Goldie La of Claremont. La prevailed over Pachl 6-3, 6-7 and 10-5 in the third-set super-tiebreaker.

Play resumes next week for the CdM girls. The eight lowest-seeded singles players and doubles teams from the five sectional sites compete Nov. 28 at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in the round of 32. Those who are seeded highly enough advance directly to the round of 16, which will be Nov. 29 at Seal Beach Tennis Center. The section will release the seeds on Wednesday.

“I think everyone played really well today,” CdM coach Jamie Gresh said. “On a day like this, it’s nice to have the team camaraderie. There’s five of them, not one of them. They’re looking to go as far as they can, and finish the season out individually just like we did in the team format.”

Willson, the Pacific Coast League singles champion, will more than likely advance straight to the round of 16. The USC-bound senior breezed through the draw Monday, beating Lauren Troli of Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos 6-0, 6-0 before besting Tenaya Morenda of Palm Desert 6-1, 6-0.

Northrup and Loredo, the Pacific Coast League doubles champions, also had an easy time. They beat Elise Windward and Ryan Tarver of Phelan Serrano 6-0, 6-2, before getting past Megan Mindt and Jessa Chaney of Laguna Beach 6-2, 6-0.

Bassey and Evloeva beat Adrianne Ramirez and Dara O’Donnell of Grand Terrace 6-0, 6-0. They then advanced after beating Sarai Williams and Henna Levanen of Los Osos 6-0, 6-2.

Laguna Beach coach Rick Conkey still considered the day a success, with five players in the third round. Mindt and Chaney, the Orange Coast League doubles runners-up, had beaten Anushka Shah and Vishwa Padigepati of Fairmont Prep 6-2, 6-1 in the first round, before rallying past Mia Kljako and Alexa Carter of La Quinta 5-7, 7-5, 10-6 in the second round.

Laguna Beach’s Lina Gleizer and Jai-Lin Garrett had a first-round bye before also rallying in the second round for a 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 win over Taylor Heckenliable and Triveni Patel of Quartz Hill. Gleizer and Garrett, the Orange Coast League doubles champions, then lost to Angela Qui and Aubrie Weissbuch of Arcadia in third round by a 6-0, 6-0 score.

“I’m proud of them,” Conkey said of his doubles teams. “I think they competed really well after losing the first set [in the second round], not getting down on themselves. Pressure is a privilege and they jumped at the opportunity.”

Gleizer, a senior team captain, agreed with her coach.

“Last year, none of us made it to the third round,” she said. “So making it to the third round this year was pretty special.”

Sage Hill duo moves on

Sage Hill’s doubles team of Nicole Condas and Michelle Hung also advanced in the CIF Southern Section Individuals tournament after winning a pair of matches at Andulka Park Tennis Center in Riverside.

Condas and Hung, the Academy League champions, had a first-round bye. They beat Melanie Ramos and Antonella Mazzini of Rancho Mirage 6-0, 6-1 in the second round and Michelle Miller and Dana Walker of Temecula Great Oak 6-1, 6-2 in the third round.

This is the first time advancing past the first day of Individuals for Condas and Hung, who lost in the third round last year.

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