Peninsula Uses Dinks to Sink Sailors

Palos Verdes Peninsula won its first eight Southern Section Division I girls’ tennis titles with big bangers such as Janet Lee, Amanda Basica and Amanda Augustus at No. 1 singles. Monday at the Claremont Club, the Panthers won their ninth championship, 10-8 over Newport Harbor, with sophomore Colby Comstock, a 5-foot-1, 90-pound backboard who fired nothing but dinks and lobs.

Comstock first took down a frustrated banger, Newport Harbor’s Natalie Braverman, 6-4, to give Peninsula a 4-2 first-round lead. Then she ended her day--hobbling on a hyper-extended left knee--with a match-clinching 6-0 thumping of Chelsea Godbey.

“When people play me, they really have to keep their head intact,” Comstock said. “I just ran everything down.”

Audra Adams, Newport Harbor’s No. 2 singles player, seemed to have the best strategy against Comstock. She stayed out of long rallies by closing off the court and coming to the net. Adams struggled, but she defeated Comstock, 7-5. Early in the set, Comstock twisted her knee while landing awkwardly. After a 10-minute break, she returned with a pad on her knee.

Braverman had lost only once all season, to Woodbridge’s Susanna Lingman, a hard-hitter like Braverman. But she got behind Comstock, 2-0, and never got back in the match. The more pace Braverman put on the ball, the softer it came back to her. Comstock’s winners could be counted on one hand, but Braverman’s unforced errors were the difference.

“I was nervous, but usually I work through it right away,” Braverman said. “For what she does, she does it great. I’ve played her before by hitting out and I won easily. I played my game today. I just didn’t play it well enough. I feel like I disappointed my team, but I also disappointed myself.”

Braverman’s teammates--seniors Kristen Case and Jenny Meyer--nearly overcame Comstock’s heroics. They won all three sets at No. 1 doubles, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. In Newport Harbor’s earlier loss to Peninsula, the Sailors won seven singles sets and were blanked in doubles.

“We knew it was our last match as a team,” Case said. “We thought we had to win all three. We played with a lot of heart.”

But Case wasn’t counting on the heart that Comstock displayed.

“Her game is totally different from anyone else’s, but it works,” Case said. “She frustrates you and she makes you impatient. She’s got a great game.”

When Comstock took the court against Godbey, the match was tied at eight and Peninsula led by five games. Within 20 minutes, Comstock had defeated an error-prone Godbey and given her team an insurmountable margin in games.

Newport Harbor’s only two losses in 21 matches were to Peninsula and the Sailors have now lost to Peninsula three times in the Division I finals.