SEAL BEACH Since the road for a CIF-SS team championship went through Peninsula of Rancho Palos Verdes, there was no reason to think the same wouldn’t apply for CIF Individuals.
When play began Friday afternoon at the Seal Beach Tennis Center, seven doubles teams and seven singles players from Orange County made up the round of 16.
By day’s end, every doubles tandem had seen its season come to a close, as did five of the area’s top singles performers.
Capistrano Valley’s Katie Ta and Laguna Beach’s Summer Dvorak were the only players to advance to Monday’s semifinal round, keeping themselves alive for a shot at an individual crown.
“It feels good. You get to miss school on Monday,” Dvorak joked after her quarterfinal win. “You know all the girls at this point (in the tournament). I think I’ve played most of them at least once before.”
Ta and Dvorak both came into CIF-SS Individuals as two of the highest regarded players in Southern California, each ranking in the top 45 nationwide for the class of 2015. When play resumes Monday, both will match up against a member of Peninsula’s loaded squad.
Awaiting Ta will be Ena Shibahara, the No. 3-ranked junior nationally who is also the reigning CIF-SS singles champ.
“Next round is obviously going to be really tough,” said Ta, the Register’s reigning county player of the year. “It feels good to make it this far again though.”
In qualifying for her second straight semifinals appearance, the Cougars senior star defeated Martina Bocchi of Beverly Hills, 6-3, 7-5, before turning on the jets and revving past Amber Park of Pasadena Poly.
“I feel like in the first match I wasn’t really moving that well,” the Brown University commit explained after her quarterfinal win. “I didn’t have a good feel. This one was a lot better though. She’s a good player, and had a good ball for me to hit.”
As if a spot in the semifinals wasn’t enough motivation, Ta’s match with Park was also a glimpse into the future as the Pasadena Poly senior will be attending Princeton next year, a rival of Brown in the Ivy League.
“It’s like a friendly rivalry,” Ta smirked.
Dvorak advanced to her semifinal with a three-set win over Carpinteria’s Kelsie Bryant, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2, and a straight sets showing over Emily Maxfield of Murrieta Valley, 6-2, 6-3.
The Laguna Beach senior will play Ryan Peus of Peninsula, who is considered to be one of the 10 best sophomores in the country.
“I don’t know a whole lot about her,” Dvorak said of Peus. “But I just want go out there and make it a match. Lots of rallies.”
Shibahara and Peus advanced to the final four after knocking out Villa Park’s Constance Branstine and Rachel Kim, respectively, in identical 6-1, 6-1 fashion.
The semifinals are slated to begin Monday at 11 a.m. at the Seal Beach Tennis Center. Finals will be played later that afternoon.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
