Youthful Sailors Fall to Palm Desert

Youthful Newport Harbor, fresh off an upset of second-seeded Mater Dei, wasn’t concerned about a letdown coming into its Southern Section Division III girls’ tennis title match against top-seeded Palm Desert.

“We’re not experienced enough to know about letdowns,” joked Sailor Coach Fletcher Olson, whose third-seeded team featured four freshmen and no seniors.

Newport Harbor brought plenty of intensity to the Claremont Club Monday, but Palm Desert brought too much talent for the Sailors to overcome and the Aztecs won, 12-6.

Robyn Baker and Jennifer Joy swept their singles sets for Palm Desert (24-0), which led, 4-2, after the first round and never wavered.

The third-seeded Sailors (16-7) had trouble building momentum as Kelly Nelson, their top singles player, won only one of three sets.

“We played well. Palm Desert played better,” said Olson, whose team made its fourth appearance in a title match in eight years. “It was a good learning experience.”

This was thought to be a rebuilding year for Newport Harbor, which lost the majority of its players from last season’s Division I runner-up. But the Sailors played like veterans in returning to the final.

The Aztecs were simply unstoppable. The doubles teams of Caroline Houston and Kassy Planck, and Kendra Lindblad and Nichole Duncan swept their sets.