CdM, NHHS could meet in girls’ tennis playoffs
The Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team earned the No. 4 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, as brackets were released on Monday.
Later this week, the Sea Kings may have to get ready for a second Battle of the Bay match.
Newport Harbor (Division 1) and Sage Hill (Division 2) will also vie in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday. Estancia lost a Division 2 wild-card match, 13-5, at Chino Hills Ayala on Tuesday.
CdM (15-5), the Pacific Coast League runner-up, plays host to El Dorado in a Division 1 first-round match Wednesday at 2 p.m. El Dorado is the second-place team from the Crestview League.
Newport Harbor (16-6), which finished tied for second in the Sunset League, plays host to Notre Dame Sherman Oaks in another first-round match Wednesday at 2 p.m. Notre Dame is the second-place team from the Mission League.
If CdM and Newport Harbor both win in the first round, they would meet in the second round Friday at 2 p.m. at a site to be determined. The Sea Kings and Sailors have not met in the playoffs in recent years. CdM blanked Newport Harbor, 18-0, in the Battle of the Bay match on Sept. 16.
CdM, which reached the Division 1 semifinals a year ago, is led by senior Riley Gerdau and junior Siena Sharf at No. 1 doubles. Gerdau and Sharf are 53-4 this season and advanced to the finals of the Pacific Coast League tournament. Freshman Danielle Willson, also a PCL tournament finalist, leads the Sea Kings in singles.
Newport Harbor’s top singles players, junior Jenn Kingsley and freshman Nicole Knickerbocker, also have improved a lot during the season. Juniors Kendall Cosenza and Anna Burke, who finished fourth at the Sunset League tournament, lead the Sailors at No. 1 doubles.
Bay League champion Palos Verdes Peninsula, Pacific Coast League champion University and Bay League runner-up Mira Costa are the top three seeds in the Division 1 playoffs. Peninsula won it all last year.
Sage Hill, meanwhile, hits the road for its first-round match. The Lightning play at Sea View League champion San Juan Hills in a Division 2 first-round match Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Sage Hill (9-6) finished second in the Academy League, and was ranked No. 10 in the final Division 2 coaches’ poll. The Lightning are led by junior Jaclyn Gerschultz, who was third in singles at the Academy League tournament, while the doubles team of senior Amira Tarsadia and junior Connie Yu was fourth in doubles.
If Sage wins its first-round match, it would either play Santa Monica or Burbank in the second round Friday. A match against Santa Monica would be at The Tennis Club, while the site of a Burbank match would be determined by coin flip.
— Matt Szabo