Take Two

Stephanie Matthews, a top player at 9 and 10 years old and the No. 1 singles player on the La Reina High girls’ tennis team as a ninth-grader this year, used the intermission between her stints on court to put on shows on another kind of stage.

Matthews, 14, was ranked as high as eighth in the U.S. Tennis Assn. girls’ 10 division a few years ago, but spent 2 1/2 years away from competitive matches to concentrate on jazz and ballet dance lessons, singing lessons and an acting career that led to parts in educational children’s videos before she returned to tennis earlier this year.

“I’ve always had a lot of interests,” Matthews said. “I just like trying different things and now I just feel like it’s my turn for tennis. I knew some people who were playing on the team and I just decided I wanted to get back to it.”

On a La Reina dance team that performed in talent shows and musicals the last two years at the private, all-girls school, Matthews would have liked to continue that pastime.

But a time conflict between dance practices and tennis matches arose, forcing her to make a difficult choice.

“I’m hoping maybe next year I’ll be able to do both,” Matthews said. “But I just figured, with dance, I’ve already kind of proved myself.

“And I always knew, when I decided I was going to slow down with tennis, that I’d come back to it, that I was going to play high school tennis.”

She has posted a 13-3 record in sets for the Regents (3-3), whose record includes losses to highly regarded Pasadena Poly, Westlake and Chaminade.

Matthews’ return to tennis has helped fill a void left by Samantha Hammond, another USTA youth-circuit player. Hammond was among La Reina’s best players last season but decided not to play this year.

“This kid, she’s just incredible,” said La Reina Coach Yvette Sehnem. “She’s a joy to work with.

“Her demeanor and temperament are great. If you were to walk up to her during a match and you didn’t know the score, you couldn’t tell it by looking at her.”

Matthews’ nature helps her handle a frenetic schedule that includes honors classes in geometry, biology and English, as well as singing lessons. She takes weekly tennis lessons and enjoys practices and matches with the high school team.

She began to ease back into tennis in January by attending weekly tennis clinics with La Reina teammates Beth Hutchinson, Anita Ellias and sisters Erin and Kathryn Meister at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

“I feel like I’m playing pretty well,” Matthews said. “I like the competition and I like the exercise. I’d like to win [the Southern Section championship], of course, but mainly, I just want to have fun with it.

“For me, tennis isn’t my future, it’s an activity.”

One of many.

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Sehnem, in her first season as La Reina’s coach, has been getting around in a wheelchair or on crutches since breaking her left foot three weeks ago.

The injury occurred when Sehnem’s left knee gave out and she landed awkwardly on the foot.

“It’s been really something,” said Sehnem. “But it hasn’t stopped me. I had this opportunity, and I said, ‘Come hell or high water, I’m coaching this team.’ ”

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Westlake and Agoura highs, expected to fight it out for the Marmonte League championship this season, played an incredible match earlier this week that ended with the score tied, 9-9.

The defending champion Warriors defeated the Chargers on games, 80-79, in the league opener at Agoura.

“I thought we were capable of an 11-7 score or even 12-6 if we played really well, but it didn’t happen that way,” Coach Connie Flanderka of Westlake said. “It’s early in the season, but it was a good start. It was definitely an important match for us to get.”

The match began a big week for the Warriors, who were unbeaten in league play and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division III playoffs with a 22-1 record last season. Westlake is ranked seventh in the division.

After beating the Chargers (1-2), ranked fifth in Division III on Tuesday, Westlake (4-1, 2-0) fell to San Marcos, No. 8 in Division II, on Wednesday, and defeated Newbury Park in another Marmonte League match Thursday.

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Flanderka has gotten in the habit of using initials this season.

She had to, because surnames are the difference between three Westlake players.

“I’ve got Lauren B., Lauren C. and Lauren T.,” Flanderka said. “It’s kind of an unusual name to have three of. It must have been the name that year.”

It was for the Warriors’ Lauren Baer, Lauren Cardoni and Lauren Townsend.