IRVINE — As Chloe Pham and Lauren Thaxter went back and forth, each point more grueling than the last, Stephanie Hazell could only sit and wait.
Hazell, a Woodbridge junior, made quick work of her semifinal opponent, University’s Alyssa Rudin, earning her a spot in the Pacific Coast League finals. But Northwood’s Pham and Corona del Mar’s Thaxter battled for more than two hours.
Thaxter came back from an atypical migraine and medical timeout to continue putting pressure on Pham before Pham finally won, 6-2, 6-3.
Hazell’s rest worked in her favor.
Hazell won the final four games of a tightly contested finals match, defeating Pham, 8-5, to win the Pacific Coast League singles title Wednesday for the third straight year. Both Hazell and Pham earned berths to CIF Individuals for reaching the finals. This was a rematch of the 2011 league finals, when Hazell won on the same court at Beckman High.
The league doubles final was an all-University affair, with Danielle Pham and Yuki Asami defeating Kyla Scott and Celine Gruaz, 8-2. University’s Judy Kam and Sarah Mae Garcia captured third place in doubles.
“I think it justifies where we were this year,” University coach John Kessler said of placing the top three doubles teams.
Hazell said waiting for more than an hour after her semifinal match ended was difficult. She sat draped in a blanket, eating Togo’s, then finally warming up as Chloe Pham and Thaxter concluded their match.
“Winning three years in a row is definitely something to be pretty proud of,” she said.
Pham and Thaxter played the match of the day, though. Pham took the first set, 6-2, having a little more stamina than Thaxter to take close points. With Pham ahead 3-0 in the second set, Thaxter suffered an atypical migraine, causing her to throw up in the corner of the court.
After about a 10-minute medical timeout, Thaxter stayed in the match and kept fighting. Pham led, 5-0, and had multiple chances to close out the second set quickly, but Thaxter won three consecutive games, sometimes winning points that took as long as three minutes.
“She never gives up,” Pham said of Thaxter. “I know when I play her I have to be even more aggressive and I have to keep on fighting because she’s a fighter.”
Kessler said he gave Danielle Pham, a senior and “the heart and soul of this team,” first choice as to her doubles partner for the league finals and CIF. Pham chose Asami, a junior who reached CIF individuals as a singles player last year.
The pairing defeated Corona del Mar’s Kimmia Naaseh and Kenzie Purcifull, 6-1, 6-2, in the semifinals before defeating Scott and Gruaz in the finals.
Contact the writer: mcooper@ocregister.com
