Sea Kings feel fine with seventh place

NEWPORT BEACH — A seventh-place finish, that included two straight losses, did little to deter Brian Ricker’s confidence while at the Corona del Mar All-American Invitational Saturday.

The Corona del Mar girls’ tennis coach was actually cool with the results at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club. There was the fact that the 16-team tournament featured some of the state’s top teams. Also, the format — four singles, four doubles, eight-game pro sets — was more suited for teams with strength in singles, not really the Sea Kings’ forte.

Yet, even after a 7-1 loss to Torrey Pines Saturday morning, Ricker was still positive, even as his team prepares to play host to Dana Hills on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. Dana Hills, ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division I, won the tournament with a 6-2 victory over La Quinta.

The Sea Kings, ranked No. 2 in CIF Division I, dropped four sets to Torrey Pines. It was the first time CdM had been swept in doubles in tournament or dual-match play.

“Those losses help our team,” said Ricker, whose team lost to La Quinta on Friday. “It’s going to force us to play on a different level.”

Kelli Feeley agreed with her coach.

“[This tournament] shows that there are tougher teams out there,” she said. “It improves our play because this shows us what is out there.”

After losing to Torrey Pines, the Sea Kings bounced back with a close-shave win over Beverly Hills in the seventh-place match. The teams tied, 4-4, but CdM won on games, 51-48.

Freshman Katelyn Nguyen helped with the difference. The No. 1 singles player beat Marie Zalameda, 8-4. Senior Paige Polizois also proved instrumental in the win. Though she lost, she battled back from a 5-1 deficit, and forced a tiebreaker. Her seven games won were definitely needed for the victory.

CdM won three out of four in doubles with Feeley and Karen Ishii winning, 8-3, Rebecca Beyer and Azadeh Nazemi winning 8-1 and the team of Elizabeth Nguyen and Betsy Murray scoring an 8-2 victory.

“We have been able to play a lot of good teams, so this has been good practice for us,” said CdM senior Lindsay Zotovich, who won two games in her doubles set loss with Melissa Matsuoka . “It improves our performance overall.”

Beverly Hills ended up on the short end for the second straight time. The Normans, who lost to CdM, 11-7, Sept. 16, also fell to Dana Hills in a match decided on games, 54-44.

“That was a good win for us,” Ricker said of beating the Normans.

Ricker could only hope to say that again Wednesday night.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].