Capistrano Valley’s Mitchell Gets Chance to Be Singled Out

Carolyn Mitchell was supposed to play doubles this season for Capistrano Valley High. But Mitchell, a senior, didn’t exactly follow the plan.

She beat out teammates Michelle Keese and Lauren Jones for the No. 3 singles spot behind Leigh Ann Merryman and Jennifer Bailey. Early in the season, she upset one of the county’s top players, Ashley Maddocks of Laguna Beach. Then in South Coast League play, Mitchell upset Dana Hills’ No. 1 player, Kate Romm.

And just in case anyone thought that was a fluke, Mitchell beat Romm again in the South Coast League singles final, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-2, on Thursday.

“She won that singles spot fair and square,” Capistrano Valley Coach Susan Unger said. “She’s gotten this opportunity and she’s made the most of it. All I can say is ‘Wow.’ ”

Romm didn’t use those words to describe Mitchell’s victory over her, but she gave her unheralded opponent credit.

“She’s a backboard,” Romm said. “It’s very frustrating to play against her. I feed off power and pace and she doesn’t give you much to work with. She ran everything down and played very well.”

Mitchell’s 44-16 singles record wasn’t as good as Merryman’s, and she probably would have had a tough time getting past Merryman or Bailey in the league tournament. But Merryman and Bailey decided to play doubles in the tournament, which gave Mitchell a fairly easy route to the final.

Mitchell’s unexpected season continues Nov. 20 in the Southern Section individual tournament. Unger said college coaches are beginning to take a closer look, mentioning that UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona and UC Irvine have expressed interest.

“She’s always had the talent,” Unger said. “The big thing for her is the confidence factor.”

Unger said Mitchell has benefited from having Merryman and Bailey in front of her in the lineup.

“Merryman just hits the ton out of the ball, Bailey’s a fighter, and then Carolyn’s there to throw off everybody’s tempo,” Unger said. “She mixes it up and tends to frustrate kids a lot.”

Merryman and Bailey, who won the South Coast League doubles title, are also being recruited. Merryman has visited Penn State and Bailey is considering Virginia and Brown.

VAUGHAN BOWS OUT

Corona del Mar senior Nadia Vaughan, headed to Southern Methodist on a tennis scholarship, has been playing some of her best tennis lately. But Vaughan’s individual high school career ended earlier than expected Thursday when she lost to Maddocks in the Pacific Coast League semifinals, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

To Vaughan’s credit, she didn’t complain about her No. 3 seeding.

“This is what I wanted, a chance to play Ashley,” Vaughan said. “I knew it was going to be tough. I just didn’t get it done.”

The second-seeded Maddocks, who beat Vaughan’s teammate, freshman Anne Yelsey, in the final, said Vaughan deserved better.

“I should have been playing Nadia in the finals, not the semis,” Maddocks said. “I didn’t understand the seedings.”

Yelsey was seeded first because she beat Maddocks in their only previous meeting.

KIM FEELING LONELY

University was ranked in the county’s preseason top 10 based on its talented group of singles players: Etel Bugescu, Megan Biorkman and Aimee Kim. But Bugescu and Biorkman went down early with injuries (knee and biceps, respectively) and never returned.

Kim, a freshman, stayed healthy all season and reached the semifinals of the Pacific Coast League singles tournament before losing to Yelsey in three sets.

“I thought we had a pretty good team, but we’ve had to bring up junior varsity players just to field a team,” Kim said. “It’s pretty sad.”

NORTHWOOD MAKES SURPRISING DEBUT

Despite having only three players on his roster who had played competitive tennis, Seth Sushinsky coached Northwood to a 7-8 record in its first year of play. Sophomore Gloriann Lopez, who played last year at Woodbridge, was Sushinsky’s No. 1 singles player, and her sister, Gabby, played No. 2 singles.

“Based on what we had to work with, I thought we had a pretty good season,” said Sushinsky, who coached the last three seasons at Lancaster High. “We don’t lose any players and we’re only going to get better.”

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ tennis report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at dave.mckibben@latimes.com