Girls’ Tennis: CdM’s trio extends season
No one can seem to believe that the girls’ tennis season is continuing at Corona del Mar High.
Count two of the participants, CdM senior Riley Gerdau and junior Siena Sharf, among the most surprised that the season has stretched into the first week of December.
“I didn’t even know it was possible for tennis season to go this long,” Sharf said. “It’s exciting. All people talk about now is winter sports.”
Gerdau’s parents, Ken and Wendy, didn’t think the season would last this long when they planned a trip to Hawaii for this week. That trip has since been postponed so they could watch their daughter continue playing.
The journey that Gerdau and Sharf are making, along with CdM freshman Danielle Willson, has been impressive in the CIF Southern Section Individuals tournament.
Mother Nature has forced a two-day delay in the tournament. Willson is now scheduled, weather permitting, to play a round of 32 singles match on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte. Gerdau and Sharf are already booked into the doubles round of 16, which is now scheduled to commence Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
It’s big for CdM to have three players advance past the regional phase of CIF Individuals. Gerdau and Sharf, along with Willson, each did so by winning two matches Nov. 24 at CdM.
This is the first time in Coach Brian Ricker’s 11-year tenure that the Sea Kings have had both a singles player and doubles team remaining this late. The last time CdM had this many people advance was when the doubles teams of Melissa Matsuoka and Hailey Hogan, as well as Danielle Kaiden and Paige Polizois, both made the CIF Individuals semifinals in 2007.
The ultimate goal is to reach the CIF Individuals title match, which earns you a prestigious board on the fence of the CdM tennis courts. Willson’s coach, former pro Taylor Dent, has one from when he won CIF Individuals singles as a CdM freshman in 1996. Sharf’s coach, Garrett Snyder, has three boards up, as a two-time CIF Individuals champion in doubles and one-time finalist in singles.
“I want to win really bad because then I can have my name up next to the plaque of my coach,” said Willson, who is 35-25 this year as CdM’s No. 1 singles player.
The record might not seem all that glamorous, but it’s impressive for a freshman to come in and compete like that for CdM, which had the toughest schedule in the CIF Southern Section.
Willson had a couple of signature wins, first upsetting University’s Alyssa Rudin, 6-4, 6-2, in the Pacific Coast League semifinals. Willson had lost to Rudin twice in league, but it was the league finals win that got her into CIF Individuals.
She pulled off another upset in the third round of CIF Individuals when she outlasted Emilee Duong of Placentia of Valencia, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8, to advance to Whittier Narrows. Duong is ranked No. 19 in Southern California in the girls’ 16s, while Willson is No. 55.
“This was an unusual year with so many schools having good singles players,” Ricker said. “Even the easier schools had good players this year. I think it was a good experience for her to play all that quality tennis.
“Definitely, as the season went on, she learned to control her anger. She got mad in the beginning. I guess her dad mentioned to me that she used to get really mad in the tournaments, and she seems to have conquered that. That’s one really positive thing, and I think she’s thinking more strategic now about how to win matches. As you get older, even though she’s a tall, strong, hard-hitter, you can’t hit through people. You’ve got to move them around and work the points, and she’s starting to figure that out.”
Gerdau and Sharf, meanwhile, have been a rock at No. 1 doubles for the Sea Kings. They finished as league doubles runners-up and are 63-5 as a team this season, and seeded No. 10 for CIF Individuals.
Still, they have also sought to make improvements throughout the season.
“We play much better as a team now,” Sharf said. “Before, in the beginning of the season, we just played as individuals. Now, we kind of know what each other is going to do.”
Ricker said keys to their success have included Sharf cutting down on the unforced errors from last year, and Gerdau not backing up when she gets to the net.
“It’s nice to see them improve like that,” Ricker said. “It was a real positive for our team that we could basically count on three sets out of them every time. It makes it a lot easier for the coach to do the lineup.”
The lineup was strong for CdM, which returned to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals and made the CIF State SoCal Regional semifinals for the first time in program history.
Gerdau, a four-year varsity starter and a co-captain this year with Taylor Fogarty, said she will miss playing for CdM. But CIF Individuals do provide a chance to extend the season.
“Being a co-captain, I couldn’t be more proud of my team and how we’ve done this past season,” Gerdau said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better last year to end my tennis career. It’s actually really sad. This next week is going to be my last time ever playing competitive tennis. It’s a really weird feeling to think that everything I’ve been working for the past four years is now coming to an end, and I’m not going to have anything to really practice for.”
At least her parents will be there to see the conclusion.
