Huntington Beach girls’ tennis claims first league title with comeback win at Edison
With the temperature at 98 degrees when the match began, the Huntington Beach High girls’ tennis team struggled to keep its cool early in Thursday’s key Wave League match at Edison.
The play of the Chargers had something to do with that, too. After Edison’s No. 1 doubles team of Daniella Chan and Cassey Hitch outlasted the Oilers’ top duo of Alissa Wong and Haley Forth in a tiebreaker, the Chargers had a 4-2 lead after the first round.
Huntington Beach coach Suzanne DeVries gathered the troops, leading her players away from the tennis courts and toward the shade near the Edison gym.
“We kind of came in lethargic,” No. 1 singles player Kaytlin Taylor said. “It was really hot, and we were all kind of tired. I think we kind of took it for granted, because we beat them last time.”
The Oilers responded in a big way, sweeping all six sets in the second round. They were on their way to a 13-5 victory, clinching the outright Wave League title with one match remaining.
It’s believed to be the first league title in program history for Huntington Beach girls’ tennis, which won the CIF Southern Section Division 3 title last year but finished second in the league to Laguna Beach.
“I almost started crying after the second round,” DeVries told her players in the waning daylight after the match concluded. “You guys turned this thing around.”
Taylor and sophomore Cindy Huynh swept in singles for Huntington Beach (15-4, 5-0 in league). Sophomore Solaya Han won twice at No. 3 singles, losing in the first round 6-4 to Edison’s top player senior Zoe Coggins, who coach Dave Lemons put at the No. 3 line on Thursday.
Lemons said the Chargers (10-6, 3-2), who lost to Huntington Beach 12-6 in the teams’ first league match, did have a specific strategy.
“We were down on all of the doubles courts really early in the second round,” Lemons said. “It was just tough. I’m not sure if it was the extended break [between rounds due to the heat], or the conditions. It was rough, but both teams were playing in it today.
“Our girls knew that we had such a small window of what we had to do, to beat a team like this. We had to sweep doubles, and Zoe had to get one [set], and that was the plan. There was no room for error, and everyone on the team knew that. I think that pressure is good for the girls, but sometimes it goes the other way.”
Instead, Huntington Beach won five of the nine doubles sets. The teams of Arianne Vethan and Maggie Rae Walker, as well as Gennifer Wolfe and Sophie Jin-Ngo, each won twice. Wong and Forth won in the second round before they were subbed out.
The team of Kailee You and Madysen Ratsek won once in doubles for Edison, as did Shannon Stolaruk and Katie Kerley. Lainey Johnson subbed in to win with Stolaruk in the third round.
Edison can still finish second in the league with a win at Laguna Beach on Monday, or a loss by 10-8 or closer. That would earn the Chargers an automatic berth to the Division 2 playoffs, after missing the postseason last year.
Huntington Beach, which closes league with a home match against Marina on Monday, will vie in Division 1. First, the teams will compete in the Wave League singles and doubles tournaments, to be held at Marina on Oct. 30-31.
The Oilers still have plenty of time to savor their first league title.
“We’re putting our school’s name out there,” Han said. “Really, tennis doesn’t really get recognized compared to other sports. But since we’re doing well in league and we won CIF last year, we’re getting the recognition. A lot more eighth-graders now are coming in, and a lot of good JV people.”
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