Peninsula Upsets Sea Kings

After having its five-year unbeaten streak broken and winding up the regular season with three losses, most people figured Palos Verdes Peninsula had no shot a winning a sixth consecutive Southern Section title.

Most people figured wrong.

Third-seeded Peninsula came into Friday’s match at second-seeded Corona del Mar, which handed the Panthers one of their three losses, determined and ready. It came out of Newport Beach with a 10-8 upset victory, needing only one more victory to win the Division I title.

The Panthers (20-3) won seven of nine doubles sets and got a key singles victory from No. 3 singles player Jane Kim, who shocked Corona del Mar’s No. 2 player Nadia Vaughan, 6-3.

Nadia Vaughan also lost to No. 2 Nikole Cabe, 6-4.

“A little different than the last five years, eh?” Peninsula Coach Tom Cox said of his team, which dominated the division in previous years. “There probably weren’t many who thought we’d get back to Claremont this time.”

Peninsula will play Newport Harbor in Tuesday’s finals at the Claremont Club.

Corona del Mar (19-4) got a singles sweep from its No. 3 singles player Caylan Leslie, who won, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, but struggled elsewhere. The Sea Kings’ No. 1 doubles team of Jenny Meyer and Courtney Tenerelli lost two of three sets and led, 5-2, in one set and, 5-4, in another. Tenerelli, who transferred from Woodbridge after the regular season, hit a forehand volley long to end the last set.

Had Tenerelli and Meyer held onto to their 5-4 lead against Stacey Tomkiewicz and Christie Jones, Corona del Mar would have won the match by one game.

“A big part about being a team is playing like a team, “ said Corona del Mar’s No. 1 player, Nina Vaughan, who won two of her three sets, 6-4, 6-1. “I’m really upset. There’s a lot of us who come out here every day and work hard. Unfortunately, some of us don’t work as hard, I hate to say this about my teammates but that’s the way is.”