Walking the walk

In a match marked by trash talk, Laguna Beach girls’ tennis holds off Dana Hills.There was plenty of trash talk going on during Tuesday’s heated match between host Laguna Beach and Dana Hills in the quarterfinal round of the CIF-Southern Section girls’ Division I tennis playoffs. The Breakers were able to back up their end of the conversation.

Fifth-seeded Laguna Beach extended its season by holding off third-seeded Dana Hills, 10-8.

It was the second win of the season for the Breakers over the Dolphins. On Sept. 14, Laguna posted an 11-7 win.

Breakers coach Greg Weiss said he expected another close match, and he was right.

He also was right when he expected to pick up six points in singles play and four more in doubles action.

Claire Rietsch, Lyndsay Kinstler and the doubles teams of Katie Ochwat and Kellie Ammerman and Lorren Butterwick and Lauren Thigpen made sure of that.

“There was smack talk going on between the teams, and I just calmed my girls down,” Weiss said. “There were some controversial calls, especially in Claire’s first set.

“The girls ... hung in there nicely. They did exactly what I had hoped they would, and Claire picked up some key points for us.”

Rietsch saved five match points, turning what could have been a 4-2 deficit for Laguna into a 3-3 tie.

“That first round was very important, because we could have been down,” Weiss said. “Those were key points for us.”

Rietsch was down 5-4 to Dana Hill’s No. 1, Brooke Pletcher, but came back to win that first set, 7-6. The two-time Pacific Coast League singles champion went on to sweep her Dolphins opponents.

Kinstler also swept at No. 2 singles, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.

The teams of Ochwat-Ammerman and Butterwick-Thigpen each won two of three.

The win was the 20th of the season for Laguna, which has lost only once.

The win advanced the Breakers to Thursday’s semifinal round, where they played at second-seeded Calabasas in a match too late for this edition.

Top-seeded Peninsula and No. 4 seed Corona del Mar played in the other semifinal match Thursday.

A win over Calabasas would put Laguna into Monday’s Division I title match at Claremont Tennis Club.

In November 2003, Laguna traveled to Calabasas and came away with a 10-6 victory over the defending Division I champions in a match called due to darkness.

Weiss, who is leaving his coaching position with the Breakers at the end of the season, wasn’t looking that far ahead.

“Our goal was to win five matches, and so far, we’ve won three,” he said. “That means that we have two more to go, but it all starts with Calabasas.”

Laguna, the No. 2 team out of the Pacific Coast League, opened the postseason with a 15-3 victory over Westlake (Miramonte No. 3). In a second-round match Saturday, the took care of neighboring Laguna Hills (Sea View No. 3), 14-4.(LA)Laguna Beach’s Lorren Butterwick strokes a forehand during a doubles match against visiting Westlake in the first round of the CIF playoffs. Butterwick played with Lauren Thigpen.20051118iq2s02kn(LA)Laguna Beach’s Lorren Butterwick strokes a forehand during a doubles match against visiting Westlake in the first round of the CIF playoffs. Butterwick played with Lauren Thigpen.20051118iq2rzqknPHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Laguna Beach’s Lauren Thigpen smashes a backhand return during a doubles match against visiting Westlake in a first-round match in the CIF playoffs. Laguna emerged with the team victory.