HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Poway Gets a Third Chance at Torrey Pines

Torrey Pines High and Poway High will meet in finals of the San Diego Section girls’ tennis 3-A playoffs for the second year in a row and fourth time in six years.

In the 2-A finals, La Jolla will make its 12th appearance in 13 years against first-time participant San Pasqual. La Jolla has won nine championships.

All four schools advanced by winning semifinal matches Wednesday. The finals are Saturday at the Canyon Hills Tennis Club with the 2-A beginning at noon and the 3-A at 3 p.m.

Top-seeded Torrey Pines defeated No. 4 Mira Mesa, 13-5. No. 2 Poway advanced over No. 3 Bonita Vista, 11-7, by winning seven of nine doubles matches.

Poway, the 1989 champion, had just three starters returning this year so it was a bit of a surprise to Coach Evi Yarnell that her team again would make the finals this year.

“The kids from the JV worked very hard in the off-season,” Yarnell said. “They improved tremendously, and we had a very good year.”

Still, Yarnell said, it will be difficult to upset Torrey Pines, which soundly defeated Poway twice during the regular season. “We have nothing to lose,” Yarnell said.

Poway’s Tasha Frantz won all three of her sets, but the Titans fell behind 4-5 heading into doubles, where Leah Splavec-Katy Heydon and Jenny Bearden-Missy Dulac swept six matches to clinch the victory.

In the 2-A semifinals, top-seeded La Jolla (21-1) advanced easily defeating three-time defending champion Bishop’s, 14-4. The Vikings’ LeeAnn Rostovsky, Lynn Coakley and Renee Gold swept nine singles sets. Bishop’s finished 15-6.

No. 2 San Pasqual, which narrowly avoided an upset Tuesday beating Coronado by an eight-game tiebreaker, had another close one Wednesday, winning 10-8 over USDHS (13-4).

The Eagles’ top two players, Molly Gavin and Britt Stenstrom, swept their singles matches to give San Pasqual a 6-3 lead. Paloma Vanderzanden and Amber Gonzalez teamed to win two of three doubles sets. Andrea Phillips-Jennifer Mulder and Annette Stehly-Summer Tubbs won their final doubles sets to win it for San Pasqual (21-1).

Volleyball Playoffs

Division II First Round

Torrey Pines d. El Capitan, 15-3, 15-3, 15-8--No. 2-seeded Torrey Pines (22-1) had little trouble with El Capitan (4-13) in the first round. Audette Paul and Amy Peters had six kills each for the Falcons and Kathy Oleksow added five service aces.

Helix d. Oceanside, 15-2, 15-4, 15-3--Top-seeded Helix was led by Karrie Downey with 10 kills. Jennie Long added five kills, four aces and four digs for the Highlanders (29-0). Oceanside finished 14-11.

Serra d. Sweetwater, 15-7, 15-9, 18-20, 15-13--Serra (14-14) upset Sweetwater in National City behind 13 kills by Leslie Coons and 12 by Kierstin Ohslund. Sweetwater finished 18-5.

Grossmont d. University City, 15-5, 15-13, 15-12--Ashley Wilkes had 41 assists and Kate Rodley nine kills as Grossmont (20-10) defeated University City (11-10) at home.

San Pasqual d. El Cajon Valley, 15-6, 15-6, 15-8--Julie Marincovich had 16 kills to lead No. 4 San Pasqual (25-5) over El Cajon Valley (11-6).

Escondido d. Valhalla, 15-3, 15-3, 16-14--Amy Smith led No. 3 Escondido with seven kills. Valhalla finished 9-11.

Mar Vista d. San Marcos, 16-14, 16-14, 9-15, 13-15, 15-11--San Marcos (15-11) staged a furious comeback at home behind Alisa Jenkins (13 kills) and Charlene Reyes (11), but fell in the fifth game to Mar Vista (22-9).

Monte Vista d. Castle Park, 15-6, 15-3, 15-13--Nikki Holt had 13 kills as Monte Vista (25-8) defeated Castle Park (14-4).