All-Area Girls’ Tennis Singles Player of the Year: Flintridge Prep’s Crystal Juan serves up more success on court
Having worked closely together for the past several years, Crystal Juan and Morisa Yang forged a dynamic relationship.
It spanned from one base line to the other at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte with Yang teaching Juan the finer points of tennis and conditioning to help put Juan in position to taste success while playing on the Flintridge Prep girls’ team.
Juan had a terrific freshman season and looked to build on it during her sophomore year. Flintridge Prep brought in Yang, a former standout at West Torrance High who moved on to the University of California, to be the new coach. Things continued to click with the tandem at Flintridge Prep.
“When I think of Morisa, I think of her as my mentor because she’s taught me so much about the game on and off the court,” Juan said. “She’s always helpful by giving good advice on positioning, serving and being aggressive by attacking the net.
“It’s important to have somebody like that around who can observe my game in terms of what I can do well and things I need to work on. You have to be good on fundamentals and stay consistent in tennis.”
Juan handled herself well while serving as the No. 1 singles player for the inexperienced Rebels, who just missed qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.
Juan finished 49-5 and 21-5 in the Prep League, leading to her being selected as the All-Area Girls’ Singles Player of the Year for the first time by the sportswriters at the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and La Cañada Valley Sun.
“When you spend a lot of time working with somebody to help them better their overall game, you look to see how interested they are in terms of learning,” Yang said. “You could always see her paying attention to detail, asking questions and then you watch her practice.
“When you put all of those things together, good things can happen. All that time later, you know what she can do. She went out there and had a great season. It’s tough being a No. 1 player in singles or doubles because everybody will be coming after you. She knows how to stay focused and her teammates depend on her to do well and provide them with leadership. That’s a lot for a sophomore.”
Juan didn’t mind handling the increased work load. She could draw from her experiences from her magnificent freshman season in which Juan went 40-5, 26-4 in league while competing against top opposition from the likes of Westridge and Pasadena Poly and earning the first alternate spot out of the Prep League for the CIF Individual Tournament.
Juan, who earned All-Area recognition last season, stuck to the game plan of grinding down opponents in 2015.
“You have to think over a lot,” said Juan, who again was an alternate for the CIF Individual Tournament. “You want to be able to get to every shot. Sometimes it won’t happen. If it doesn’t happen, then it’s OK and you fix it going forward.
““I was disappointed a few times with the way I played. In the end, I was happy with my results overall.”
Suzie Kim, Flintridge Prep’s No. 2 singles player, said she’s learned a lot from Juan with respect to mastering the basics.
“A lot of times, we are playing at the same time,” said Kim, a junior. “Once in a while when there’s a break in my set, I’ll watch Crystal play and you can always pick up something.
“You can see her rushing to get to the net. She finds ways to keep the ball in front of her. When she’s in a break during her set, she’ll be there to encourage you. It’s always great when you can have somebody there to provide support.”
Flintridge Prep (9-9, 5-6) just missed out on qualifying for the postseason, hoping to advance for the first time since 2011. The Rebels met rival Pasadena Poly for the third time during the season with the winner advancing to the playoffs. Pasadena Poly posted an 11-7 home win at Caltech, though Juan won her three sets.
Juan said the Rebels weren’t used to the spotlight, despite the Rebels having split their two previous matchups with the Panthers.
“I think both teams were nervous,” Juan said. “I know I was nervous. We did as much as we could and we just came up a bit short. We now have something we can draw from going into next year.”
With her sophomore season having come to a close, Juan said there’s more work ahead.
“There’s a list of things I’m looking to get accomplished,” Juan said. “It will start with working even harder during the offseason.
“I want to help our team get back to the playoffs and I would like to make the CIF tournament for the first time. You want to see how you can match up against some of the amazing talent out there.”
