SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS ROUNDUP : Corona del Mar Gets Another Date in the Finals

Corona del Mar High School clinched its second consecutive appearance in the Southern Section girls’ tennis final with a 14-4 victory over Estancia in the 4-A semifinals Thursday at Estancia.

Corona del Mar, the defending Southern Section 4-A champions, will play Miraleste Tuesday at the Claremont Club for the title.

“The girls are playing like they want to win (Southern Section),” said Corona del Mar Coach Gary Salazar, after the Sea Kings (21-1) swept all six third-round games.

“The key is to keep that attitude,” Salazar said. “You almost have to forget it’s the finals, because if anything can go wrong it’s the nerves.”

Corona del Mar has been the top-ranked 4-A team in the Southern Section ll season. Estancia finished the season with a 16-6 record.

After the first round, the Sea Kings led in games, 4-2, and led, 8-4, after the second round. They clinched at least a tie with Keri Phebus’ 6-0 victory over Estancia’s No. 1 singles player, Dina Birch, in the third round.

Phebus, a 5-11 sophomore, didn’t lose a game to Estancia, running her unbeaten streak to 10 matches and 30 games.

“It means a lot (to go to the Southern Section) finals because this is my only opportunity to play on a team,” said Phebus, who missed the National Indoor tournament and the United States Tennis Assn. national training camp to participate in the Southern Section tournament.

“It is fun because when you play individually it puts a lot of stress on yourself, but when you play for the team you can get into the team spirit,” she said.

Estancia junior Molly Romm, who teams with senior Liz Collins as the No. 1 doubles team, said her team felt the pressure.

“We were playing really well the last game,” she said, “but we got psyched out because we have lost the last few times we played them. They’re intimidating.”

In Southern Section 3-A girls’ tennis playoffs:

Dana Hills 14, San Marino 4--Anne Mall swept her sets, 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (7-0 tiebreaker), to lead host Dana Hills (17-1). Jamie Fouret and Anna Zaricki swept their doubles sets for Dana Hills, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0.

Calabasas 9, Capistrano Valley 9 (Calabasas wins on games, 68-65)--Natasha Pospich of Calabasas (15-0) defeated Page Bartelt of Capistrano Valley, 6-3, for the match. Capistrano Valley finishes 18-2.

In the 2-A playoffs:

Katella 10, St. Lucy’s 8--Katella (15-5) upset second-seeded and unbeaten St. Lucy’s (19-1) by winning eight doubles sets at Citrus College. Margaret Harker and Janet Jo swept their sets, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2, and Kelly Wang and Danielle Drennan swept their sets, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, to lead Katella.