Phebus Returns on Part-Time Basis

CORONA DEL MAR — When Keri Phebus of Corona del Mar High School won her second consecutive Southern Section 4-A tennis singles title as a sophomore last year, she wasn’t sure whether to defend her crown this season.

“I wasn’t going to play because the high school matches take a lot of time and I wanted more time for my school work,” Phebus said. “But since I saw we had a good chance to win (the Southern Section title), I decided to play.”

That’s an unfortunate decision for other singles players in the Sea View League--and Orange County. But there’s a footnote to this development: Phebus will see limited action.

Gary Salazar, girls’ tennis coach at Corona del Mar, said he plans to use Phebus “selectively” to defend the team’s league title this season. He will move senior Courtney Strauss from No. 2 to the top singles spot when Phebus doesn’t play.

The part-time status doesn’t bother Phebus. She plans to use her time on the court for fine-tuning.

“This year I’m going to try to volley about 75% of the time,” Phebus said. “I’ve been trying to use my height more and come to the net more. That (a high school match) is the best opportunity to try those things.”

Phebus, 16, selected The Times’ Orange County girls’ player of the year in 1989 after an unbeaten season, is back for her junior year perhaps even sharper.

The 5-foot-11 junior, ranked first nationally in the girls’ 18-and-under division, added some impressive victories to her resume over the summer by winning five United States Tennis Assn. tournaments, including the singles and doubles events at the Southern California championships, and gold medals in the same events at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Minneapolis.

And for good measure, Phebus competed against some tough international athletes in the U.S. Open’s junior competition in New York earlier this month. She won her first match but lost the second to the top-ranked junior in the world, Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maaleva, 6-3, 6-2. Maaleva is the younger sister of Manuela and Katerina Maaleva, who were seeded in the women’s tournament.

Those matches helped Phebus hone her skills to a point that Salazar believes she is nearly unbeatable in high school competition.

“In terms of (Southern Section play), I don’t see anybody even touching her,” Salazar said. “Realistically, I don’t see it happening. She’s lifted her game another notch. She’s playing at another level.”

That’s hard to imagine.

When Phebus wasn’t this good, she compiled a 53-2 record as a freshman in 1988 and won her first 4-A singles title. She also led Corona del Mar to the Southern Section championship.

Now Phebus has advanced to the point at which she is contemplating a professional career. However, she said she’ll wait to join the women’s tour at least until she graduates from high school halfway through the 1991-92 school year.

“It’s definitely in my future, that’s my goal, Phebus said. “I will graduate early and I’m going to test the pros from January through September to see how I do.”