Sailors Down With Braverman Out

Fifth-seeded Newport Harbor had played tough matches against all of the elite teams in Division I, but the visiting Sailors ran out of toughness and ran low on healthy players Tuesday against fourth-seeded Dana Hills. They were bounced out of the Southern Section playoffs with a resounding 13-5 loss in the quarterfinals.

The Sailors (15-7) had not suffered a loss worse than 11-7 against the top four teams in Division I, but they also had their top singles player, freshman Natalie Braverman, for most of those matches. However on Tuesday, Braverman couldn’t play because of tendinitis in her left ankle.

“We knew she hadn’t been playing, but we thought she might play today,” Dana Hills Coach John Stephens said. “I know our girls got more excited looking at their lineup without Braverman.”

Kristen Case, one of the Sailors’ top doubles players, played but she wasn’t at full strength. Case aggravated a swollen disk in her lower back during warmup and had trouble putting any power on her serve. The injuries forced Newport Harbor Coach Fletcher Olson to juggle her singles and doubles lineup.

“You just can’t do that much switching against a good team like Dana Hills,” said Olson, whose team lost to Dana Hills, 11-7, earlier in the season. “It just wasn’t good enough. We had played without Natalie for the last three weeks, so I think Kristen’s injury actually hurt us more today.”

Stephens also did some juggling, but his moves paid off. Stephens matched Brooke Calton with Alison Uhma for the first time. Calton and Uhma swept, 6-3, 6-0, 7-6, at No. 1 doubles. Chelsey Thompson and Isis Jackson, another new team, also swept at No. 3 doubles, 6-1, 7-6, 6-3. The Dolphins’ No. 2 team of Jenney Dubow and Catie Reames also won three, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0.

“It would have been closer with Natalie,” Uhma said, “But I think we would have still pulled it out. We were very confident with our doubles. We’ve had some great coaching and we felt like would play well together.”

For their trouble, the Dolphins (18-5) will travel to meet top-seeded Woodbridge Thursday in the semifinals. Dana Hills was beaten by Woodbridge, 11-7, early in the season.

“We have a chance against them,” Stephens said. “Their singles are really dominant, but we’re excited to be there.”

In other Division I matches:

Capistrano Valley 10, Corona del Mar 8--Leigh Ann Merryman won, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, to lead wild card Capistrano Valley (17-7) to a quarterfinal victory over third-seeded Corona del Mar (15-4).

The Sea Kings were without No. 1 singles’ player Nadia Vaughan and No. 3 Kim Singer, who were unable to play because of bad knees. Vaughan will also miss the Southern Section individuals this weekend. Eva Baudenbacher will replace Vaughan.

Carolyn Mitchell and Kylee Webster teamed up for a third-round 6-1 victory, and Lynn Nugent and Michelle Keese added a 6-4 victory to clinch it for Capistrano Valley, which plays second-seeded Palos Verdes Peninsula (22-1) in the semifinals.

Woodbridge 15, Upland 3--Susanna Lingman swept, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1, to improve to 53-1 and lead top-seeded Woodbridge (21-0) to a quarterfinal victory. Michelle Stiefel and Evangelina Soriano added 6-2, 6-1, 6-0, victories for the Warriors, who play fourth-seeded Dana Hills in the semifinals.