CdM girls’ tennis extends winning streak to 12 after beating Peninsula
The Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team brought plenty of snacks to Wednesday’s key nonleague match at Rolling Hills Estates Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Bagels were not one of the options, but CdM senior Kristina Evloeva still provided three of those.
Evloeva swept 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 in singles, continuing her recent hot play. The Sea Kings as a team were similarly successful, earning a 12-6 victory.
CdM (15-2), ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 1, has won 12 matches in a row. The win over No. 6 Peninsula (10-6) is expected to be the Sea Kings’ last big test of the regular season.
Evloeva has no problem earning the “bagels” recently. The UC Davis commit has won her last 16 sets by scores of 6-0. She has not lost a set since the last match that the Sea Kings lost as a team, an 11-7 setback against former league rival University on Sept. 18. The Trojans are No. 1 in Division 1.
Evloeva said that it was nice to have a competitive match Wednesday.
That was really stressful to watch [Peninsula win all three doubles sets in the second round]. But our singles was really strong today.
— Kristina Evloeva, Corona del Mar High senior
The Sea Kings are on their way to cruising to the Surf League title. They have won each of their first four league matches, beating Fountain Valley 17-1 and 18-0, Los Alamitos 18-0 and rival Newport Harbor 17-1.
CdM can clinch a share of the league title by winning at Los Alamitos on Thursday.
“Even though my sets weren’t close, I was nervous for all of the doubles girls, especially after the second round,” Evloeva said. “That was really stressful to watch [Peninsula win all three doubles sets in the second round]. But our singles was really strong today, and doubles won the important sets. I think our first round set the momentum really well for the match.”
CdM had a 4-2 lead after the first round, which featured two tiebreaker sets. CdM sophomores Reece Kenerson and Hannah Jervis saved a set point at No. 1 doubles to top Peninsula’s Serena Ko and Lindsay Thomas 7-6 (7-2). At No. 3 doubles, Peninsula’s Lindsay Eisenman and Kina Tanagawa saved two set points in the tiebreaker to edge CdM’s Alden Mulroy and Jane Paulsen 7-6 (8-6).
The match was close, but it would shift to CdM. Peninsula’s top player, sophomore Kimmi Hance, had to substitute out after beating CdM’s Roxy MacKenzie 6-1 in the first round. Peninsula coach Mike Hoeger said that Hance was sick.
Hoeger added that the Panthers were without No. 2 singles player Alicia Carmona on Wednesday, as she was out with a wrist injury.
CdM won eight of nine singles sets in the match.
Kenerson and Jervis won twice at No. 1 doubles. They had to battle the Peninsula players, as well as the critiques of their parents from close by the court on which they played all three sets. Whit and Marcy Kenerson, as well as Patty Jervis, could not be too upset with their daughters after they won twice against a strong team.
“Reece gets mad when they cheer, but I think it’s funny,” Hannah Jervis said. “Sometimes it’s a little annoying, but it kind of makes the mood lighter.”
Senior Janie Marcus swept 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles for CdM, while MacKenzie won twice. Seniors Shaya Northrup and Bella McKinney won twice at No. 2 doubles for the Sea Kings.
The mood indeed was light after the match for CdM. As the Sea Kings got ready to get on the bus to head back to Newport Beach, Evloeva had time to think about all of the 6-0 bagels she has tallied recently.
“I don’t think about it when I play,” Evloeva said. “But after I played, I thought that I haven’t lost a game in a really long time.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
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