Sharp Again : Capistrano Valley Tennis Star Is Back on the Courts After a Cactus Run-In

If it hadn’t been for that darned cactus, Page Bartelt would never have had to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery.

This is the way her friends figured the accident had occurred:

She was out in the desert, running over the rough terrain through springtime temperatures that topped out at more than 100 degrees. It was just another difficult workout to keep her in shape for tennis. She stumbled, weary from the heat, and crashed into an enormous cactus. A huge needle punctured her kneecap.

The truth, however, is far more mundane.

Bartelt, a sophomore tennis player at Capistrano Valley High School, was spending the Memorial Day weekend in Palm Springs. She was standing on a hotel balcony when she decided to go back inside.

She banged her knee into a small, potted cactus near the balcony’s sliding glass door and a needle poked her kneecap.

“No one can believe that’s the way it happened,” Bartelt said. “When people hear what happened to me they say, ‘What were you doing running in the desert?’ ”

The worst part was that the knee became infected and Bartelt had to have surgery to have some fluid drained.

The injury sidelined her for the better part of three months. She only returned to the courts in August.

“She’s had to rebuild her game,” said Kerry Leander, Capistrano Valley coach.

Bartelt shrugs off both the injury and the layoff. She spent the time swimming and riding a stationary bicycle to stay in shape. She said the time away from tennis was just what she needed after a hectic freshman season.

She stepped into a good Capistrano Valley lineup and made quite an impression. She helped the Cougars to the South Coast League championship and to the Southern Section 3-A championship final, which the Cougars lost, 11-7, to San Marino.

Bartelt compiled a 52-6 record in singles, but it was in doubles that she had her greatest success. She teamed with senior Michelle Foster to win the Southern Section doubles title in December.

The two trailed in the semifinal, 4-0, in the third set, but rallied to defeat Melissa Kaiser and Erica Hanson of Miraleste, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Then they won the final, 6-2, 6-4, over Shawn Egan and Michelle Deasy of South Torrance.

“I really needed a break,” Bartelt said of her knee problem. “At first I was upset, but it’s got me really motivated for the season.”

Back to full strength, Bartelt is the Cougars’ No. 1 singles player and one of the top players in Orange County.

And Capistrano Valley, one of the top teams in Orange County this season, is also highly ranked in the Southern Section 3-A polls--this despite losing Foster, last season’s No. 1 singles player, who is now playing at UC Irvine. But Leander figures the team won’t miss a beat.

“This freshman group (which includes Bartelt and Allison Light) that came in last year is a confident group,” he said. “They’re working through that (losing Foster). They’re an amazingly confident group.

“Knowing that and knowing our talent, we could be the No. 1 team in the county.”

He’s counting on Bartelt to provide leadership. Bartelt and Angela Arias, a junior, have been named co-captains.

“She’s in a difficult position,” Leander said. “She’s been turned to as a leader, but she’s also a sophomore. You do see a lot of leadership qualities in her. She’s a sharp, bright girl.”

Said Bartelt: “I’m only a sophomore. . . . Some people don’t really want to hear it from me.”

For now, Bartelt will try to lead by example. Certainly her tennis prowess is hard to ignore.

Bartelt was No. 4 among Southern California players in the girls’ 16-and-under age group rankings. She also has played against national-caliber competition at the Easter Bowl tournament in Miami.

“I have some general goals,” she said. “I’d like to play in college. I have more short-term goals. I want to work hard for the next match and the next tournament.”