CdM dominates, picks up sixth straight BOTB win

Corona del Mar High tennis senior Paulina Loredo had heard about the Battle of the Bay match, but actually playing in it is a different beast.

Loredo, a transfer from Dallas, Texas, noticed the big crowd for Thursday’s match at rival Newport Harbor. Playing at the No. 1 doubles line, she had her partner Shaya Northrup there for support, but this was definitely a unique experience.

“Everyone was cheering and it was so intense,” Loredo said. “At the beginning, we were a little bit tight. I think that made us nervous, but after that we felt confident and were playing really well. We just decided to relax, and if we made a mistake, just laugh about it.”

Loredo and Northrup finished strong in the first round for a 6-3 win over Newport Harbor’s top team of sophomores Lauren Lipkowski and Amra Barton. As for the Sea Kings as a team, they started and finished strong as well. The middle wasn’t too bad either.

Corona del Mar earned a 16-2 victory at the Sailors’ courts, its sixth straight Battle of the Bay triumph. The Sea Kings (6-0), ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division 1, swept in doubles.

Loredo and Northrup swept, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1, but the other doubles teams were equally effective. CdM freshman Lauren Friedman swept at No. 2 doubles with fellow freshman Reece Kenerson and senior Emily Freyman, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. And CdM senior Brooke Kenerson and junior Bella McKinney took a pair of 6-4 victories at No. 3 doubles before substitutes Ashley Thomas and Dylan Matesky finished off the match with a 7-6 (9-7) win over Newport Harbor’s Rachel Davis and Avery Wooden.

Loredo and Northrup have settled into the No. 1 doubles position for the deep Sea Kings. Thursday marked their fourth match at that spot.

“She’s a little bit more outgoing, and I’m a little more shy, so we go well together,” Loredo said. “She has great ground strokes and I have good volleys, so we complement each other. I mean, her serves are really good, so I just poach at the net.”

Northrup nodded.

“It’s like a one-two punch,” she said.

CdM packed a punch against the Sailors (4-2), even without last year’s Daily Pilot Player of the Year Danielle Willson. CdM coach Jamie Gresh said that Willson, a senior, is at a National Level 2 USTA tournament up at Stanford this weekend.

CdM’s other two top transfers besides Loredo came through in singles. Senior Annika Bassey swept at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-0, 6-0, while junior Kristina Evloeva won twice at No. 2 singles. Roxy MacKenzie, a junior, won once before she was subbed out in the third round for freshman Alden Mulroy, who also won.

Newport Harbor lost for the second straight match after Wednesday’s 11-7 setback at Sage Hill. Still, senior Nicole Knickerbocker again provided strong play at No. 1 singles, improving to 16-1 this season.

Knickerbocker was edged by Bassey in the first round, but came back for 6-3 wins against MacKenzie and Evloeva. The latter win was especially impressive against Evloeva, a five-star recruit on tennisrecruiting.net.

Serving up a break of serve, Knickerbocker climbed out of a love-40 hole to hold serve for a 5-3 lead. She then broke Evloeva’s serve at love to win the match, winning the last nine points.

Overall, Newport Harbor coach Kristen Case was impressed with the fight from her team, which opens Sunset League play on Thursday against Marina. First, the Sailors have a scrimmage against St. Ignatius Prep of San Francisco on Saturday, and they host St. Margaret’s on Monday.

“We had a very good start to our preseason, and that was great,” Case said. “It was awesome to build our confidence and know that the hard work we put in this summer was paying off. Then we got tested the last couple of days, which I appreciate and I think that we need. I would rather have some tough battles and tough tests prior to [Sunset League play]. That’s going to help us develop the grit that we need.

“You’re only going to build that grit, that resilience, that mental toughness through adversity and challenges. I really think our team is going to step up after the end of this week, and bring it next week.”

Challenges are also coming for Corona del Mar. The Sea Kings play host to Peninsula, ranked No. 5 in Division 1, in a key nonleague match on Tuesday. CdM then plays at San Clemente, led by Utah commit Lindsay Hung, on Wednesday.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo