NEWPORT BEACH – Corona del Mar’s girls tennis team needed four singles players this season because of the uncertainty of senior Lauren Thaxter‘s availability from match to match.
Thaxter suffers from atypical migraines, which kept her out of a handful of matches. Elena Fish and Shelby Anderson split time at No. 3 singles for the Sea Kings, with both fitting in the lineup when Thaxter was absent.
But that has all of a sudden become a strength for Corona del Mar, which opened Southern California Regionals play on Tuesday with a 6-1 victory over L.A. City Section runner-up Granada Hills.
The regionals require a lineup constructed of four singles players and three doubles teams. The Sea Kings’ No. 2, 3 and 4 singles players each won their matches without surrendering a game.
Riley Gerdau, Anderson and Fish each won two 6-0 sets, completing their individual matches quickly.
Corona del Mar’s doubles, the strength of the team all year, also made quick work of Granada Hills. Thaxter lost in No. 1 singles in a tiebreaker to Granada Hills’ Sarah Nuno, 6-7, 7-6 (10-6).
Last Friday, at the CIF finals in Claremont, some coaches discussed the regional tournament coming up and how fielding a fourth singles player would affect their lineup.
“We already have a No. 4 singles,” CdM coach Brian Ricker said.
CdM also has experience in the format. The Sea Kings began this season by winning the California Tennis Classic in Fresno, which uses the same lineup structure as the regionals.
The Sea Kings will face Torrey Pines of San Diego in the quarterfinals Friday at 10 a.m. at The Claremont Club. Torrey Pines has won 24 straight CIF-San Diego Section Division 1 titles.
University and Canyon also won their regional matches Tuesday. They will meet in the quarterfinals Friday at 10 a.m. in Claremont.
Contact the writer: mcooper@ocregister.com
