Calabasas Enjoys Rainy Double Date

A steady drizzle postponed several quarterfinal matches during the Southern Section tennis tournament Thursday at The Racquet Club of Irvine, but not before Debbie Pepkowitz and Shervin Saedinia of Calabasas High stormed into the doubles semifinals.

Pepkowitz and Saedinia, seeded third, survived a three-set thriller against Michelle Stiefel and Danielle Hustedt of Irvine Woodbridge in their opening match, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, then defeated Amy Tranckino and Kate Romm of Dana Hills, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.

“They’re a good team,” Calabasas Coach Bill Belatty said. “The combination of Shervin’s finesse and Debbie’s power is a good combination.”

Pepkowitz and Saedinia are looking to give Calabasas its second Southern Section doubles title in as many years. Kirsten Gross and Shera Weigler won for the Coyotes last season.

The Calabasas pair appears to be headed for a semifinal match against second-seeded Becky Raijfer and Nickole Kabe of Peninsula, who lead 6-3, 5-0, in their quarterfinal match against Michi Nagamata and Lindsey Irons-Kilmer of San Marino. Weather permitting, that match will be completed today at 9 a.m., with the semifinal beginning shortly thereafter.

Defending singles champion and top-seeded Zuzana Stunova of Rio Mesa had just begun the third set of her quarterfinal match against Julieanne Chidley of Riverside Poly when the rain came.

Stunova, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Laurie Cheung of Palm Desert in her first match, dropped the first set to Chidley, 6-4, then regrouped and found her power strokes to take the second set, 6-1.

The match will resume today at 9 a.m. with Chidley serving at 15-0 in the first game of the third set.

Freshman Jieun Jacobs of Hart became the first player from her school to advance to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Allison Arvizu of Huntington Beach. But in the only singles quarterfinal to reach completion, Jacobs was overmatched by second-seeded Sanaz Ghazal of Temecula Valley, 6-0, 6-0.

Helena Horak of Westlake lost to Nina Vaughn of Corona del Mar, 7-5, 6-3, in the most intriguing opening-round match.

Horak is ranked 16th among 16-year-olds in Southern California and Vaughn, the fourth-seeded player in the tournament, is the third-ranked 16-year-old. Among first-round matches, this pitted the two competitors most closely ranked.

“It’s a tough draw,” Horak said. “That’s a consolation.”

A lack of reserved court space caused delays in the start of several doubles matches, including the one involving Horak’s Westlake teammates Erin Smith and Katy Smith, who were eliminated by Tranckino and Romm, 6-1, 7-5.

Shaland Romero and Christina Irinco of Burroughs fell short in a three-set first-round match for the second consecutive year, losing to Tracy Popeney and Cheyne Ursich of Peninsula, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.