Southern Section Tennis Championships : County Teams Attempt to Upset Champions

The Corona del Mar and Capistrano Valley high school girls’ tennis teams face a similar task today: trying to unseat top-seeded, defending champions.

Corona del Mar (23-1) meets Miraleste (13-0) for the 4-A championship at 9 a.m. at the Claremont Club in Claremont. Capistrano Valley (20-1) faces San Marino (22-1) for the 3-A title after the 4-A match.

The match will be the first 4-A championship appearance for Corona del Mar, which advanced to the semifinals last season and won the 3-A title in 1978.

Miraleste is the defending 4-A champion and its top singles player, Kim Po, won the Southern Section singles tournament title last year as a junior. The Marauders also defeated Corona del Mar, 13-5, in a match Oct. 21.

All of which makes Miraleste a definite favorite today.

The Sea Kings lost 7 sets with 1 service break each in the teams’ first meeting. Dave Heffern, Corona del Mar coach, said he believes the Sea Kings have improved considerably in a month.

“I haven’t been very nice to them since then,” Heffern said. “We’ve got to get ahead and stay ahead.”

One of the best matchups involves Po and Keri Phebus, Corona del Mar’s No. 1 singles player.

Phebus, a freshman, is 47-1 this season with her only loss coming against Po.

Kristy Phebus, Keri’s older sister, and Robin Bain were the Sea View League doubles champions. They are the team’s co-captains.

Capistrano Valley faces an equally difficult challenge in trying to knock off San Marino, the 3-time defending 3-A champions.

If Capistrano Valley is to score an upset, it will need to get the most out of its singles players. The formula worked in the semifinals. The Cougars took 7 of 9 singles sets in a 14-4 victory over Agoura last Thursday.

Michelle Foster, Capistrano Valley’s No. 1 singles player, and Page Bartel, the Cougars’ No. 2 singles player, will again be counted on heavily.