Girls’ Tennis: CdM moves past rival Newport Harbor and into quarterfinals
The Newport Harbor High girls’ tennis team presented players from rival Corona del Mar with flowers during pre-match introductions Friday afternoon.
It was a nice gesture, one that showed the level of respect the programs have for each other.
“Obviously we’re rivals, but it’s such a cool experience to be able to play them in CIF,” Newport Harbor senior co-captain Annie LaGrandeur said. “It’s not league anymore. It’s not the local teams, you know, it’s everybody. It’s all of Division 1. We’re both coming from the same town, we all know each other, so I think it was really cool that we could meet each other here in the second round. There’s definitely a lot of respect there.”
Once the match started, the Sailors showed they deserved the respect on the court, too. But No. 4-seeded Corona del Mar was still just a bit too strong in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs second-round match at the Sailors’ courts.
CdM won the second Battle of the Bay match this year, 12-6, advancing to the CIF quarterfinals. There, the Sea Kings (17-5) will play Campbell Hall, which defeated Tesoro by the same 12-6 score in another second-round match.
CdM lost the pre-coin flip again, so Monday’s quarterfinal match will be at Weddington Golf and Tennis in Studio City.
Friday’s match against Newport Harbor (17-7) was the Back Bay rivals’ first playoff meeting since 1997. The Sailors showed they had improved following CdM’s 18-0 blowout win in the Battle of the Bay nonleague match on Sept. 16.
But CdM used a doubles sweep from Riley Gerdau and Siena Sharf (6-3, 6-1, 6-0), as well as a singles sweep by sophomore Jasie Dunk (three 6-1 sets), to seize control.
“This is the most nervous I’ve ever seen our team when we’ve already beaten the opponent 18-0,” CdM Coach Brian Ricker said. “That’s what makes Battle of the Bay fun. The nerves were sky-high.
“We don’t go into matches trying to win them 18-0. That’s not our goal in any match. Sometimes it happens. Our goal here was just to win, so 12-6, I thought it was a good match. We got some good sets in. Battle of the Bay, as you can see for both schools, this is a fun experience for them. We got to do a second Battle of the Bay this year, and we were fortunate to come out on top both times.”
CdM took a 5-1 sets lead after the first round, after Gerdau and Sharf held on for a 6-3 victory over Kendall Cosenza and Anna Burke at No. 1 doubles. When the teams played in September, Gerdau and Sharf had blanked Cosenza and Burke, 6-0.
That kind of Sailors improvement was typical in Friday’s match. Junior Jenn Kingsley showed it in singles in the first round, topping CdM freshman Danielle Willson, 6-3. In September, Willson “bageled” Kingsley by a 6-0 score.
Kingsley won twice for Newport in singles Friday, and Nicole Knickerbocker won once. Cosenza and Burke won twice in doubles, while the Sailors’ No. 2 team of LaGrandeur and Olivia Zehnder won once.
Willson won twice in singles for the Sea Kings, and Elena Fish won once. Taylor Fogarty and Camellia Edalat won twice in doubles before they were subbed out, while Shelby Anderson and Erica Chen also earned a doubles win.
CdM took a 9-3 lead after two rounds, clinching the match shortly thereafter.
The Sea Kings’ season continues. For the Sailors, the players and Coach Kristen Case gathered in a circle after the match and reflected on their year. It had plenty of highlights, including winning the Lightning Invitational tournament, finishing tied for second in the tougher-than-ever Sunset League and advancing to the CIF Division 1 second round for the second time in three years.
They gathered on the No. 1 doubles court near the end, cheering loudly for Cosenza and Burke as they ended the match with a close win over a CdM substitute team.
“That’s what this team stands for, unity, pride and spirit,” senior co-captain Courtney Howarth said. “That’s lessons that I’ll take off the court, for sure.”
Added LaGrandeur: “It feels like a win to us. I’m ecstatic about the way that this season ended and how we went out today. The way we finished was unbelievable … I’m extremely proud of how my senior season ended.”
