Nelson to Get Another Chance

Lindsey Nelson of Villa Park High, twice a singles runner-up, probably will be the top-seeded player in the Southern Section individual tournament that continues with fourth-round and quarterfinal matches today at SeaCliff Country Club in Huntington Beach.

Although seedings will not be announced until today, Nelson, a senior with a 49-1 record in sets this season, is No. 2 in the U.S. Tennis Assn.’s Southern California girls’ 18 division rankings, upon which seedings for the section tournament typically are based.

Nelson, however, was beaten, 6-2, in a round-robin set by Beverly Hills senior Riza Zalameda last month. A four-time Century League champion, Nelson lost to former Irvine Woodbridge standout Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 7-6 (6), in last year’s section title match, and she fell to Anaheim Canyon’s Tracy Lin, 6-3, 6-4, in the 2001 final. She lost to Exon, now at Michigan, in the quarterfinals as a freshman in 2000. Nelson will play at USC next season.

The undefeated Zalameda, who has signed to play at UCLA next year, is No. 5 in girls’ 18s in Southern California. On the basis of that ranking, she would be seeded third behind Nelson and Long Beach Poly freshman Vania King, who is ranked No. 3 in Southern California and No. 7 nationally.

The No. 4-seeded player could be King’s older sister, Ivana, ranked No. 11 in girls’ 18s, or possibly, Calabasas sophomore Kristen McVitty or Fullerton Troy sophomore Cosmina Ciobanu.

McVitty is the top-ranked player in Southern California in the USTA’s girls’ 16 division, while Ciobanu is at No. 3.

The tournament will be completed with singles and doubles semifinal and championship matches Friday at the same site.

-- Lauren Peterson