Willson, CdM take out Arcadia to reach CIF girls’ tennis final

For every stacked team that the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis program has had over the years, a CIF Southern Section title has proved elusive over the last decade.

The Sea Kings last won a section crown in 2006, and although the program will inevitably restock itself, the window is fast closing on the career of one of its brightest stars.

CdM coach Jamie Gresh called Danielle Willson the team’s best player for all four years that she has been at the school. He called her dedication to the program second to none, and it showed in the way she put pressure on herself to deliver the Sea Kings back to the championship round.

Willson swept her way through an impressive singles lineup presented by No. 4-seeded Arcadia, and the No. 1 Sea Kings came away with a 10-8 victory in a Division 1 semifinal at home on Wednesday afternoon.

With the win, the Sea Kings (22-0) wiped away the pain of semifinal losses suffered the previous two years. They did so against an Arcadia team that also came into the match undefeated at 23-0.

Against a lineup of five-star recruit Michelle Deng and four-star players Lauren Ko and Rachelle Yang, Willson defeated each in double-break fashion, all by the final count of 6-2.

“Danielle Willson played lights out today,” Gresh said. “When you have a big-time player, you need them to step up in a big-time moment. I think she did that. To sweep this team is a huge accomplishment.”

Willson, who is committed to USC, was overcome with joy after breaking through to the finals in her senior season.

“I’m so overwhelmingly stoked right now,” Willson said. “When I was playing my third round, I kind of looked down, looking at the scores, and I was a little bit scared. Honestly, that just fired me up even more, and I was just like, ‘I’m not losing this set. I’m going to win.’ It took a lot of fight, and I brought it out. I’m pretty proud of myself for doing that.”

CdM will face Pacific Coast League rival University in the championship match, which will start at 11:15 a.m. at the Claremont Club on Friday.

University defeated Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula 12-6 in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

CdM beat the Trojans (16-4) by scores of 15-3 and 14-4 en route to winning the league championship.

“That’s probably the best matchup I’ve ever heard of,” Willson said of taking on University in the final. “I know that I’m maybe thinking ahead, but I think we have this match.

“For us to win CIF would be amazing. We just need to believe it, and we can do it. We just need to execute our shots, and hopefully we will win that.”

Corona del Mar’s Annika Bassey won a key singles set in the CIF Southern Section semifinal win against Arcadia on Wednesday.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer )

Gresh figured that his team would have to win four times in singles and six times in doubles to win the match outright with 10 sets won. CdM wound up taking five sets in each area, as Annika Bassey and Kristina Evloeva were each able to win one set in singles.

Roxanne MacKenzie and Isabella McKinney won two out of three sets for the Sea Kings at No. 1 doubles. Shaya Northrup and Paulina Loredo-Vilchis won two of three as CdM’s No. 2 pairing.

The fire-and-ice duo of the hard-hitting Lauren Friedman and the finesse of Brooke Kenerson defeated Sydney Tran and Jolene Huey in the first round, allowing CdM to take a 4-2 lead in sets after the first rotation of match play. Kenerson had the drop volley working for her all afternoon.

Arcadia’s top doubles team of Angela Qiu and Sunny Ng remained undefeated on the year. Ng gave up her spot to senior Aubrie Weissbuch in the Pacific League finals tournament, so Qiu and Weissbuch will make up one half of the league’s doubles representatives in the CIF Individuals tournament.

The other half is the reigning CIF Individual doubles champions, as Ko and Deng opted to forego singles once again to defend their doubles crown.

“The level of tennis here is extremely high,” Arcadia coach Ruth Lagace said. “Very talented players across the board. Corona del Mar has an incredible team. I wish them the best of luck. I will not be surprised if they come out on top.”

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