Daily Pilot High School Athletes of the Week: Taylynn Snyder and

Brittany Holland

Steve Virgen

Motivation was the ultimate ice-breaker in the process of team

chemistry for the Corona del Mar High girls tennis doubles team of junior

Taylynn Snyder and sophomore Brittany Holland.

Each girl played with extreme desire to achieve success, providing a

quick meshing that opened the door for a run at the CIF Southern Section

doubles title. It was as if the two had played with each other for years.

They posted two easy victories Nov. 30 to advance to a semifinal. The

most impressive victory of the two came with a surprisingly easy 6-1, 6-3

quarterfinal win over Melissa Semelson and Gia Nafarete of Los Alamitos.

“This is the first time we played together,” Snyder said. “It took

some getting used to, but we both were really determined to do well. We

were just motivated, which made it a lot easier.”

Throughout the regular season, Snyder and Holland had never been on

the same doubles team because Holland earned points in singles and Snyder

switched off from doubles to singles. Both helped the Sea Kings win their

second straight CIF Southern Section Division IV title.

When the individual tournament arrived, CdM Coach Andy Stewart thought

the strengths of each would make for an excellent doubles entry.

“Looking back at it now, I think it was the right decision,” Stewart

said. “They’re just both good players. They complement each other real

well. Brittany is good from the baseline. Taylynn is good in the volleys

and she moves well at the net. They are two good singles players. Even

next year I think they would make a good doubles team.”

The victory over Semelson and Nafarete provided momentum for the Sea

Kings. Snyder and Holland became confident in one another and carried

their motivation into their semifinal match against Palm Desert’s

Jennifer Joy and Ashley Mettert Tuesday. The CdM tandem repeated what the

Sea Kings team had done to the Palm Desert squad in the CIF Division IV

final.

Snyder and Holland displayed confidence with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I was really excited when I found out I would play with Taylynn,”

Holland said. “She is a great player and a great girl. I thought we could

do real well. I was really pumped up. We just had the motivation of

trying to win it all. We had great coaching and we just went out there

with a lot of spirit and told ourselves that we wanted to do well.”

Said Snyder: “I had a lot of confidence in us. I wasn’t really

surprised. I figured we would make the final.”

Their CIF final appearance was the first time a CdM duo reached the

section title match since Megan Wachtler and Alissa Scott in 1994.

Despite a solid start, Snyder and Holland could not handle the Calabasas

team of Celia Durkin and Erin Everly, who won, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3.

Now that the season is over for Snyder and Holland they will renew

their focus on singles competition. Snyder will compete in the 18s in the

Super Nationals in Arizona during the Christmas break, while Holland will

skip that tournament to vacation with her family. Holland will resume

action in January, playing in the 16s of the San Diego Junior Singles

Tournament.

With expected improvement from each player, it will be difficult to

keep them away from the CIF singles tournament next year, but if they

pair up, Holland had a message for those who compete in the doubles

tourney.

“If we do play doubles we’re just going to get revenge and win it all

next year,” Holland said.