SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION I TENNIS : Zaricki Helps Dana Hills Upset San Marcos

Anna Zaricki swept her sets, helping Dana Hills upset second-seeded Santa Barbara San Marcos, 10-8, in a Southern Section Division I semifinal girls’ tennis match Thursday at Dana Hills High School.

For the second time in four years, the Dolphins, seeded third, reached the final. In 1989, they won the Southern Section 3A title.

Thursday, the battle to advance went down to the wire as Zaricki, playing at No. 2 singles, defeated San Marcos’ No. 3 Kara Warkentin, 6-2, in the last round to clinch the match for the Dolphins (21-2). Dana Hills will meet undefeated Palos Verdes Peninsula in the final.

Zaricki, a senior, didn’t know the outcome depended on her match.

“That girl (Warkentin) is a good player and I had to focus for this match,” Zaricki said. “ . . . I try not to think about sweeping.

“I know a lot of times, the team has needed me to win a set for us to clinch, but although this is a team sport, it is an individual thing for me. In the back of my mind, I can’t let myself think about that.”

Dana Hills, which lost to San Marcos, 12-6, earlier in the season, led, 4-2, after the first round, and 7-5 after two rounds. Entering the third round, San Marcos (21-2) drew to within one point, 7-6, but that was the closest it came during the 3-hour 20-minute match.

Junior Elizabeth Stevens defeated Ricki Rubin, 6-2, for the Dolphins’ ninth point and then Zaricki, who won her other sets, 6-3, 6-1, beat Warkentin for the victory. Warkentin, a freshman, was undefeated in the Channel League, playing at No. 1 singles.

Although Zaricki came through in singles, it was in doubles that the Dolphins were impressive. The last time these teams met, Dana Hills won only one doubles set, but Thursday, the Dolphins captured five. The No. 2 team of Anika Cox and Krissie Ross and the No. 2 duo of Michele Johnson and Ann-Marie Roseen managed to win two of their three sets.

“We finally found the combinations in doubles that worked,” said Dana Hills Coach John Stephens, whose team fell to Peninsula in the semifinals last season. “We had to win doubles today.

“We are going to enjoy this victory now. We got to the finals and we have reached as far as we can go.”