Girls tennis: A Newport heartbreaker

Steve Virgen

CLAREMONT - The Buffalo Bills of the 1990s would surely empathize

with Newport Harbor High’s girls tennis team.

For the third straight year, the Sailors lost in a CIF Southern

Section final. This time, it was a Division II title match that had just

as much heartbreak as 1999, when they lost, 10-8, to Peninsula in

Division I.

Newport’s 11-7 loss to unbeaten and top-seeded Troy, Monday at the

Claremont Club, included three tie-breakers, all won by the Warriors.

“I’m really disappointed that (the No. 2-seeded Sailors) didn’t pull

those (tie-breakers) out,” Newport Coach Fletcher Olson said. “I’m glad

that the team played well because it sure did. Our players did a good

job. They just didn’t get the last one.”

Troy (14-0) led, 9-7, with two doubles matches remaining and both went

to tie-breakers. Earlier, the Warriors held a 7-5 lead after the second

round closed out with a singles tie-breaker.

Newport senior and No. 1 singles player Natalie Braverman won three

sets with ease to earn Harbor’s only singles wins.

The two-time Sea View League singles champion blew past Troy’s No. 1,

Aya Sakoda, 6-0, then took out Serena Fermin, 6-1, as well as her sister

Clare, 6-4.

Braverman, bound for Pepperdine University, used her trademark

powerful ground strokes and grabbed control early in each set on center

court.

After the first round, Troy led, 4-2. But Newport pulled even the next

round, 3-3, gaining a key victory from its No. 3 doubles team of

sophomores Bonnie Adams and Vanessa Dunlap, which duplicated what it had

accomplished in the semifinal win over University. The Sailors’ duo

scored a 6-2 victory over Troy’s No. 1 team of Pam Abella and Mata

Pesyna.

Newport seniors Erika Buder and Carmen Khoury, the Sailors’ No. 2

tandem, also earned a key 6-3 win over the Warrior’s No. 1 team in the

tight third round.

Yet, Troy’s No. 3 doubles team of Calina Clobanu and the eldest Fermin

sister, senior Veronica, earned three crucial victories.

“The final score is misleading, but that’s about as close as you can

get,” Troy Coach Donna Judd said. “It could have easily been 9-9. What a

thrill. If Newport had won, it would’ve been very legitimate because they

are a good team.”

The Warriors, champions of the Freeway League, won both tie-breakers

in doubles, 7-1. They prevailed, 7-3, in the singles tie-breaker.

“Troy just played tough, especially in the breakers and that was the

difference,” Olson said. “We were looking at 6-6 in the second switch. It

went 5-7. That was huge. (The final) two matches were very close. Krista

(McIntosh) and Kelly (Nelson) made a great comeback. They were down, 3-0.

It was that close all day. They all had a great season. They won league

and made it to the finals of CIF. They have nothing to be ashamed of.”

It was the sixth loss in six CIF title matches for the Sailors, who

finish 15-4. Newport was defeated, 12-6, by top-seeded Palm Desert in

last year’s Division III final.