Dana Hills postseason party continues

No team has more girls competing than Dana Hills' five at Thursday's continuation of the CIF-SS girls tennis individual championships at the Seal Beach Tennis Center.

Two Saturdays ago, three rounds of action narrowed the field to the Round of 16. The quarterfinals are also Thursday, with the semifinals and finals Friday.

The Dolphins advanced two doubles teams and one singles players. They are one of three schools with two doubles teams remaining. Troy and Murrieta Valley are the others.

Dana Hills' Brynn Boren and Kristina Smith are the defending doubles champions and chasing history. Leyla Simmons and Victoria Wing also made it in doubles, as did Kristina's younger sister, sophomore Joanna Smith.

Last Monday they shared in the Dolphins' repeat in the Division I team final. With the five reaching the Round of 16, it has been a postseason party.

"It's super exciting," Simmons said of the success. "It's so much fun. Most of us were on the team last year. It was our second time winning. It was more fun the second time. We had a huge party afterward.

"Now we have individuals coming up. We are still on that high. We want to keep going."

Draws aren't released prior to Thursday so it's not known where Simmons and Wing stack up with their teammates. Boren and Smith, both seniors, seem likely to get the top seed as the returning champions. As sophomores, Boren and Smith lost in the final.

If they were to repeat, they would be the first pair to win back-to-back titles since Pacific's Carol Christian and Pat Shellhammer did it in 1978-79. The last repeat champions before Christian and Shellhammer happened in 1928-29. Also, by reaching the finals, Boren and Smith would become the first pair to play in three consecutive finals. Other players have played in three in a row, but not with the same partner for all three.

"It's pretty cool," Boren said. "Not very many people can say they have gone to two straight finals and possibly get to a third. It's obviously going to be very hard.

"There are a ton of tough teams. It's going to be the toughest year yet. We have to focus and work hard."

The pair has known each other since playing junior tournaments in the 12-and-under division. Both grew up around the sport and complement each other well on the court.

During the South Coast League tournament as sophomores they played doubles because of the Dolphins' depth in singles. Their surprise run to the final fueled the competitive nature and they returned as juniors.

"For me, I didn't really expect to do that well," Smith said. "We enjoyed playing with each other. We worked really well together and had good court sense. We went from there. We both go to the same club, and we knew each other from all the junior tournaments, but we never played doubles before."

Boren and Smith spent most of the season playing singles, along with Joanna Smith, who won the South Coast singles crown. The trio swept in singles during the semis and finals of the team playoff.

"It was really fun with them being the leaders of team," Joanna said. "We all did really well. We all pulled together and got the job done.

"Last year I didn't make the main draw for individuals, so making the main draw this year was a really good accomplishment. I'm just excited to be playing Thursday."

The rest of the county field:

Singles

Kaitlyn Christian (Orange Lutheran): The Trinity League champion lost just six games in reaching the Round of 16. She is likely to receive the second seed in singles, putting her on a collision course with likely top seed La Quinta's Pam Montez.

Megan Heneghan (Beckman): Like Christian, Heneghan cruised through her first three rounds by losing six games. The Pacific Coast League champion said her goal is to reach the final.

Melissa Matsuoka (Corona del Mar): The Sea Queens top player was close to elimination in her last match before pulling through 10-8 in the final set. She finished runner-up to Heneghan in the PCL final.

Eleanor Edles (Estancia): The Orange Coast champ is ranked four spots below Heneghan in the USTA 18-and-under division. What that means is she's a player to watch come Thursday.

Krista Hardebeck (El Modena): The Century League champ is ranked No. 11 in the USTA 16-and-under division. She survived a three-set (10-7) match in the second round before cruising in the third round.

Doubles

Stefanie Villajuan/Frances Tseng (Troy): The Warriors' top two singles players during the season, they teamed for the Freeway League tournament and took first place.

Alison Radde/Stephanie Hui (Troy): The pair led the Warriors in doubles during the year and finished runner-up to their teammates in the league final.

Natalie McKay/Candace Wu (Valencia): Fresh off sweeps in singles during the Tigers' CIF championship victory last Monday, the Empire League doubles champs join forces once more.

Melissa Cecil/Katie Cecil (Ocean View): Golden West League champs and sisters holding it down for the smaller division schools.

Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com