Last Tuesday, Coronado’s Girls’ Varsity Tennis team competed in the quarterfinals of the CIF San Diego Section Open Division Playoffs. This draw takes the top eight teams in the county of which the Islanders were seeded No. 3. They would face the San Dieguito Academy Mustangs—their first opponents of the season. That first match resulted in a 10-8 Islander victory.
Unfortunately, the girls’ team did not pull through with another win to move onto the semi-finals of the Open Division Playoffs. “I’m not sure what happened to us,” comments Coach Rob Moore, “whether we were too nervous or overly confident about competing in the playoffs, but we did not play our best tennis by a long shot.” Some match highlights were Olivia Strong/Sinaia Haskal’s (Line 2 Doubles) 6-2 win against the Mustangs’ Line 2 Doubles, “possibly having been their best match of the season,” says Coach Moore. Ellie Johnson/Samantha Russell (Line 3 Doubles) also played a tough match against their Line 3 Doubles team, pulling through with a 7-5 win. The final score was 6-12, a win for San Dieguito.
This week, the Islanders are playing in the Western League Individual tournament. Western League teams send five singles players and five doubles teams to Balboa Tennis Club to play in a single-elimination tournament, determining eligibility for the CIF Individual tournament. The winner of this tournament will be named Western League Player of the Year.
Coronado entered four seeded players in the singles draw of the tournament as well as two unseeded players from the Junior Varsity squad. Summer Vu was seeded No. 2, after OLP’s Jolie Morgan, and won both of her matches in easy eight-game pro sets, 8-0 and 8-1. No. 3-seed Elsa Östermarker also took both of her sets in 8-1 and 8-2 wins. Lily Vu (No. 4 seed) “bageled” both of her sets against Cathedral and La Jolla singles players and will be moving to the quarterfinals with the rest of her teammates. Ana de la Lama (No. 8 seed) had an excellent comeback in the first match, after being down 0-4, and winning 8-7 (14-12 in the tiebreaker). Unfortunately, she fell to Marcella Archambeault from Cathedral Catholic in a 1-8 loss and will not advance into the quarterfinals. Coronado’s Lauren Pettit won her first match 8-3, but fell to the No. 1 seed 0-8 in the second round. Maya Haskal lost 1-8 in the opening round.
In the doubles draw, four Coronado teams were seeded in the tournament as well. A Junior Varsity team of Fer Name and Esther Nahmad was activated to enter the main draw. Alejandra Gonzalez/Marla Steel were seeded No. 1, giving them a bye in the first round. They won their match in the second round in an easy 8-2 win. No. 2-seed Johnson/Russell were also given a bye and destroyed in the second round 8-1. Strong/Haskal, as the No. 5 seed, took both rounds with 8-1 and 8-0 wins, and No. 6-seed Jolee Barr/Tiana French took both of their matches 8-4 and 8-1. All four seeded doubles teams will move onto the quarterfinals. Coronado’s unseeded Fer Name and Esther Nahmad lost in the first round 1-8.
Click here for the tournament draw.
Upcoming Tournament:
Tuesday-Wednesday, October 30-31 – Western League Individual Tournament at Balboa Tennis Club
