DeVera, Exon and Vaughan Like Their Chances a Whole Lot Better Now : Tennis: With defending champion Amanda Basica not competing, they reach semifinals of the Southern Section tournament.

The draw for the Southern Section individual singles tournament looked a lot more appealing to three Orange County girls Thursday morning without Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Amanda Basica at the top of it.

With defending champion Basica deciding not to compete, Villa Park’s Faye DeVera, Woodbridge’s Natalie Exon and Corona del Mar’s Nina Vaughan took advantage of the wide-open draw to reach the semifinals for the first time.

The biggest surprise was Exon, who figured to lose her first match to Beverly Hills’ Jessica Kessler. But Exon disposed of Kessler, 6-1, 6-4, and then stunned last year’s runner-up, Kara Warkentin of Santa Barbara San Marcos, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

“They both probably expected to beat me,” said Exon, a junior who had never advanced past the Sea View League tournament until this year. “They were thinking I was a nobody. Losing to me would be embarrassing.”

Even Exon wasn’t so sure she could beat the fourth-seeded Warkentin, a hard-hitter who is one of the top-ranked 18-year-olds in Southern California.

“I thought I would lose,” she said. “But that helped me play well. I was loose. I didn’t have high expectations.”

Exon admitted she got tentative in her second set with Warkentin, but she went for broke in the third.

“I let her work me in the second set, and I decided to go for it in the third,” Exon said. “I wouldn’t have had enough energy to run balls down anyway, so I had to be aggressive.”

DeVera also was aggressive in slamming her two opponents, Danica Hardy of Santa Maria Righetti and Carla Nasca of Upland. She lost only three games in two matches.

“Right now my game is peaking,” said DeVera, who was awarded the No. 1 seeding.

DeVera half hoped that her peaking game could meet up with Basica again.

“In a way I was kind of looking forward to playing her, to see how my game compared to hers,” she said.

Vaughan was somewhat less disappointed that Basica decided not to play.

“It really helped me with [Basica] out of it,” the third-seeded Vaughan said. “That seeding gave me a good draw and if not for that, who knows what happens?”

But after winning both of her matches in straight sets, Vaughan isn’t wondering what can happen anymore.

“I feel good,” she said. “I’m going to win it.”

Two of the four Orange County teams can still win the doubles tournament--second-seeded Alissa Scott and Megan Wachtler of Corona del Mar and unseeded Michele Johnson and Katie Tierney of Dana Hills, who overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Nickole Kabe and Becker Raifer.