SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS ROUNDUP : Young Players Come Through as Laguna Beach Wins Easily

A year ago, Laguna Beach had an experienced tennis team that Coach Bob Walton said played to its potential but lost when the going got tough in the Southern Section playoffs.

This year, Laguna Beach has a young team, but Walton expects it to hang around for a long time in the playoffs.

The Artists, using freshmen at all three singles spots, showed Saturday they just might do that as they trounced Foothill, 16-2, in a Division II second-round match in Santa Ana. The freshmen singles players--Michelle Bray, Amanda Hastings-Phillips and Lindsay Weiss--combined for a 9-0 mark.

Laguna Beach (21-1) will meet Calabasas in a quarterfinal match Tuesday.

“I don’t feel we have to play over our heads to beat anybody,” Walton said. “We’re a young team, but the girls aren’t feeling the pressure.”

Two players from Foothill (9-12) certainly felt some pressure Saturday. The starting time for the match was delayed two hours so senior Jane Park and junior Andrea Claus could participate in the mind-wrenching Orange County Academic Decathlon. They took off their thinking caps in time to each drop three singles matches.

“I’m just mentally drained,” Park said. “This has been a tough day.”

For Hastings-Phillips, playing tennis Saturday was, well, playing.

“It was fun,” she said. “This is a fun group. We’re friends on and off the courts.”