The luck of the draw it wasn’t.
A heavyweight showdown in doubles came in Round 3 of the CIF-SS Girls Tennis Individual Playoffs on Saturday when Troy’s Alison Radde and Stephanie Bui faced Corona del Mar’s Lindsay Zotovich and Danielle Kaiden in a survival match.
Radde and Bui advanced by winning, 7-5, 6-4, at Balboa Bay Club. The pair met Wednesday in team playoff action, with Radde and Bui winning, 6-2. That loss was Zotovich and Kaiden’s second of the season before Saturday’s. Radde and Bui have two losses on the year.
Singles and doubles began with three rounds Saturday. The four remaining in each draw are reseeded with the other three sites. Those matches will be held Dec. 4-5 at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
“It was a quality match,” Troy coach Donna Judd said. “I didn’t like that they had to play so early because I’m sure the Corona del Mar team is stronger than several that will qualify.
“I think we were able to take over the net more and forced them to play defensive. We didn’t make many unforced errors.”
Stefanie Villajuan and Frances Tseng joined their Warriors teammates in doubles. Villajuan and Tseng usually play singles for Troy. Also moving on was Ocean View’s Katie and Melissa Cecil.
The Sea Kings’ other doubles team of Karen Ishii and Keeli Feeley were eliminated by Peninsula’s Jenna Glimp and Anna Tatsuno in Round 3.
In third-round singles, Corona del Mar’s Melissa Matsuoka rallied past Ocean View’s Tiffany Mai, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 (10-point tiebreaker used for third set). Mai was one of four seeded players in singles.
The other three – Beckman’s Megan Heneghan, Orange Lutheran’s Kaitlyn Christian and Estancia’s Eleanor Edles – advanced.
“She was playing really well,” Matsuoka said. “I couldn’t do anything when she’s on like that. I just tried to stay with her. I knew I could pull it out.”
Edles, the Orange Coast champ, qualified for the Round of 16 by beating Sage Hill’s Julia Blakeley, 6-4, 6-3. Christian lost a total of six games in three matches. The Trinity League champ defeated San Marino’s Sarah Gealer, 6-2, 6-0, in Round 3.
Heneghan also lost six games in her three victories. Her final one came against Laguna Beach’s Alex Tachovsky, 6-0, 6-4. Heneghan, who beat Matsuoka for the Pacific Coast League title, said Saturday’s format was challenging.
“This is the only tournament where you play three matches in one day,” she said. “The players keep getting tougher as you go. All that makes it hard.”
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I believe it is Stephanie Hui, not Bui, but great win either way.
I don’t see the Arcadia results posted which also featured many OC teams. From memory, both Dana Hills teams are through to the round of 16 (Brynn Boren/Kristina Smith) and (Victoria Wing/Leyla Simmons) as is Valencia’s Natalie McKay/Candace Wu.
In singles, Dana Hills Joanna Smith survived an epic battle against Rowland’s Lorraine Guillermo in the 3rd round that would have been appropriate for a later round. It was a great match, as each girl employed every strategy in their arsenal. Natalie Johnson defeated Valencia’s Sarah Blair in a tough second round match. I felt sorry for the poor balls as both girls were exchanging fierce ground strokes. I believe Natalie went on to win her 3rd round match as did Esperanza’s Bianca Modoc. Kathryn Webb held off Loara’s Jennifer Cornea in another great 3rd round battle.