Dolphins doubles champs start title defense

LAGUNA NIGUEL - Dana Hills' Brynn Boren and Kristina Smith lost in the CIF Division I doubles final as sophomores two years ago.

They returned last season as juniors and won the championship, a feat they are seeking to repeat this season as seniors.

However, the repeat run wasn't a given, as Boren's travel schedule was a possible derailment to that goal.

"It was kind of iffy," Dolphins coach Mark Spearman said. "Brynn travels so  much with recruiting and tournaments, but they got together and decided to play. Kristina was going to play singles."

The duo took the first steps toward repeating with two victories at Tuesday's South Coast League finals held at Laguna Niguel Racquet Club. Brynn and Smith   beat Tesoro's Kelsey Linton and Melany Stransky 6-0, 6-0 to reach Wednesday's   semifinals match.

Brynn and Smith face teammates Avriel Tomaiko and Karley Pletcher in that contest. If they get past that pair, they will play the winner of Leyla Simmons/Victoria Wright (Dana Hills) and Tory Johnson/Kelsey Atkinson (San   Clemente).

Brynn and Smith play No. 1 and No. 2 singles respectively during team   competition. They joined in doubles as sophomores because Dana Hills had too   many singles players.

If they were to repeat as doubles champs in CIF, 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, Brynn and Smith would become   the first-ever pair to play in three straight finals. Other players have played   in three straight finals, but not with the same partner for all three.

"To defend the title would be cool to do," Smith said.

The pair attributes their chemistry together for their success.

"Our games contrast each other, so we work well together," Brynn said. "Kristina places the ball more and sets up the point. I play with more power and put the ball away. We also communicate well."

Spearman said working well together is one thing, but their contribution to the Dolphins goes beyond winning. He said Brynn and Smith are great teammates,   evidenced by the pair sticking around to cheer for teammates long after they had   finished for the day.

"The biggest thing is they both get it," Spearman said. "They bring so much more because of their personalities."

In other results at Tuesday's South Coast League finals, two of the four top singles seeds lost. Dana Hills Kasey Matthes pulled the biggest upset, defeating No. 2 seed Ariel Aung (Tesoro). Matthes then lost to Aliso Niguel's Paula Chou   6-1, 6-3.

Chou, who is the third seed, faces teammate Samantha Chou, who defeated Dana Hills' Catherine Fevery, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

The top seed, Dana Hills' Joanna Smith, didn't lose a game in reaching the semifinals. She takes on Capistrano Valley's Nakieta Hein, who reached the semis   with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Mission Viejo's Gabby Vasquez.

Please send all girls tennis league results to   ctobolski@ocregister.com

Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com