Dunk, Knickerbocker to meet

The high school girls’ tennis season is still a few weeks away, but those looking for a bit of a Back Bay rivalry match can watch it Friday at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

Corona del Mar High incoming junior Jasie Dunk will play Newport Harbor incoming sophomore Nicole Knickerbocker at the 26th annual The Tennis Club Junior Tournament, better known as the “War by the Shore.”

Even better, the girls’ 16 singles title of the tournament will be on the line when the two players square off at 11 a.m.

Dunk and Knickerbocker both made the championship match with victories Thursday. Dunk, the top seed, got past No. 6-seeded Bianca Pugliese of Redondo Beach, 7-5, 7-6.

Knickerbocker, the No. 8 seed, took out Tristen Bryant-Otake of Hawaii, 6-0, 6-2.

It will be the first time the two players have met since the high school season last fall, when Dunk earned two set victories over Knickerbocker, in both the Battle of the Bay match and a CIF Southern Section Division 1 second-round playoff match.

Dunk has been playing in tournaments every weekend since the end of last year, and her ranking in the 16s has steadily improved. She played well last week in Utah at the zonal tournament, returning Monday night before starting play at the War by the Shore on Tuesday morning.

“My confidence has increased so much,” Dunk said. “I’m out here to win, I think, not just to make them lose or hope for them to lose … Of course it’d be really nice to win [the War by the Shore]. To win this would show how much I really improved since tennis season.”

She took a 4-1 lead in her semifinal against Pugliese, before hanging on to win the first set. The second set was tight throughout, but Dunk saved two set points in the tiebreaker at 6-7 and 7-8, the latter when an overhead by Pugliese was just long on the baseline.

Dunk then escaped with the 10-8 victory in the tiebreaker, avoiding a third set.

“I was trying to stay as positive as possible,” Dunk said. “I tried to stay above water there and let her be nervous and discouraged.”

Knickerbocker, meanwhile, had an easier time in her semifinal victory.

“I just kept the ball in and I just stuck with my game, and she would miss or I would hit a winner,” Knickerbocker said. “I came to the net a lot, too.”

Unlike Dunk, she hasn’t been playing a lot of tournaments lately, taking some time off to work on her game.

“It’s good to be in the finals,” Knickerbocker said. “I haven’t really been in the finals of a lot of tournaments lately … I feel like my game’s improved a lot, so it’s nice.”

Knickerbocker said she has been working on getting more topspin on her shots.

One thing that Dunk won’t have to worry about on Friday is doubles action. She and CdM incoming senior Siena Sharf lost their girls’ 18 doubles quarterfinal match to Pugliese and Emily Zargham of Torrance, 7-6, 6-3, on Thursday evening.

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•In other doubles matches involving locals on Thursday, the Kenerson sisters of Newport Beach were winners in the girls’ 18s.

Paige Kenerson, who will be a senior at Corona del Mar High, and sophomore-to-be Brooke defeated Audrey and Bridgette Stewart of Apple Valley, 6-4, 6-3, in a quarterfinal match. They will play yet another sister tandem, top-seeded Mary and Zoe Kaffen of San Juan Capistrano, in an 18s doubles semifinal match Friday at 12:30.

Brooke Kenerson is also in 16s doubles action Friday with another younger Kenerson sister, Reece, who will be a seventh-grader at CdM. Reece is also playing in the 12s with partner Avery Hopkey of Laguna Niguel.

CdM’s Cameron Harbilas and Trenton Rhodes lost to top-seeded Alexey and Boris Lunin of Irvine, 6-1, 6-0, in a boys’ 16 doubles quarterfinal match.