Girls’ Tennis: Deep CdM bests Lightning

The Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team is deep this year, and that depth has bred competition.

Who will earn the No. 3 singles spot behind a pair of stalwarts, Jasie Dunk and Danielle Willson?

CdM Coach Jamie Gresh said that senior Kylie Tasu and sophomores Shaya Northrup and Roxy Mackenzie are all in contention. Gresh, too, doesn’t mind the competition.

“There’s a big emphasis this year on the harder and better you practice, the more you’ll be rewarded with match court time,” Gresh said. “There are a lot of girls vying for those spots, whether it’s doubles or singles, and everything is up for grabs until you really prove yourself. The wins kind of show it, or the way you compete really shows it as well ... When you have three girls that are driven and motivated to get better and to earn that spot, it can only help the level of play increase at practice. Then they’re trying to prove it here in a match setting.”

All three players started in singles on Wednesday, in the Sea Kings’ season opener against Sage Hill. It was Northrup who swept, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, as CdM claimed an 11-7 victory at its home courts.

“I feel like fighting for that No. 3 spot has made me better in a way,” said Northrup, who played doubles last year as a freshman with Bella McKinney. “I’ve wanted to get better to get that spot. This match, I felt really pumped going into it, knowing I was going to play singles. After I won my first [set] I was kind of like, ‘Oh, I’m having a good day today,’ and that helped with the other [sets].”

Corona del Mar showed its depth against Sage Hill (3-1). Willson did not play in the match due to a right shoulder injury. Dunk, who returned home from a family trip to the U.S. Open in New York late Tuesday night, played in doubles with McKinney instead of singles.

It still didn’t matter for the Sea Kings, who led 5-1 after the first round and 10-2 after the second round to clinch the match.

The doubles teams of senior Camellia Edalat and junior Brooke Kenerson, as well as Dunk and McKinney, both won twice before being subbed out. CdM’s No. 3 doubles team, Izzy Dajee and Emily Freyman, won once.

Gresh said the Sea Kings’ goals include repeating as Pacific Coast League champions and advancing a round further than last year, when they lost in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals to Harvard-Westlake.

“I’m so excited,” Kenerson said. “It’s going to be a great year, I feel like. It’s a fun team. Some teams have one weaker link, but I feel like we’re all pretty strong. It’s a really solid nine [players].”

Tasu won twice in singles, including a tight 7-6 (8-6) victory over Sage Hill’s Maya Byrd, before she defaulted her last set due to leg cramping. Mackenzie won once in singles, though she had close sets against Kayla “Cat” Kiani (3-6) and Byrd (4-6).

The Sea Kings subbed in six seniors in doubles in the final round, but none of the three teams won. Erin Duddy and Katie DeRevere came the closest, before falling to Sage Hill’s team of Morgan Mann and Miranda deBruyne, 6-4.

Stephanie Beder and Nicole Condas won twice in doubles for the Lightning, while Isabella Deckey and Michelle Hung earned one victory. Kiani led Sage in singles, with a pair of wins at the No. 1 position.

Sage Hill Coach Cierra Gaytan said she was proud of her squad, which lost to CdM, 17-1, last season.

“I knew coming out of the gate that CdM was going to be a really tough team,” Gaytan said. “I just told the girls, ‘I want you guys to be brave and believe in my coaching strategy. Step in on balls, look to move forward as much as you possibly can.’ In the beginning, some of the girls got a little shaky and kind of backed up. In the third round, they started stepping forward and they won the last three matches in doubles. That shows a lot about their character, and their fight. I think their fight is right there. They’re pumped, even though they lost today.”

Sage Hill will host the Lightning Invitational tournament on Friday and Saturday, while CdM prepares for a busy week next week with three matches. The Sea Kings are at Los Alamitos on Tuesday, and home against JSerra on Wednesday. The following day is the annual Battle of the Bay match against rival Newport Harbor, also at CdM.