Breakers advance to CIF tennis semifinals

The Laguna Beach High girls’ tennis team secured its second straight

semifinal appearance in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs.

The Breakers traveled the long road Tuesday to face host Calabasas

but the journey back to Laguna was a happy one, as they returned with

a 10-6 triumph over the third-seeded Coyotes in a match halted by

darkness.

Calabasas was the defending Division I champion.

The win sent the Breakers (21-1) into Thursday’s semifinal round,

where they faced Beverly Hills.

The Normans eliminated Laguna from title contention in last year’s

semifinal round.

The winner of Thursday’s match advanced to Monday’s Division I

championship final against the winner of the semifinal match between

Peninsula and Corona del Mar.

The final will be played at 10 a.m. at Claremont Club.

The difference in Tuesday’s match against Calabasas came in

doubles play, when Laguna stepped it up as the No. 1 team of Kellie Ammerman and Jackie Reed, and No. 2 Katie Ochwat and Correy Miller,

earned sweeps.

Reed, a senior, and Ammerman, a sophomore, set the tone early with

a 6-4 victory over Calabasas’ top tandem of Erin Wiesener and Ann

Kopolkov. The Laguna pair then went on to post 6-2, 6-1 wins.

Miller, a junior, and Ochwat, a sophomore, paired up much of the

2002 season but this year, Ochwat saw plenty of playing time in

singles. However, she teamed with Lorren Butterwick last week to win

the Pacific Coast League doubles title.

But the Miller-Ochwat team recaptured some of their magic from

last year and had little trouble in recording 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 over the

Coyotes’ doubles teams.

Junior Kim Ochwat and senior Britton Simons collected two key

victories with 6-3, 6-4 wins.

“The doubles teams stepped up today,” Laguna Coach Brian Ricker

said. “All the six girls executed our season-long game plan

perfectly.

“Consistency from the baseline, aggressive poaches at the net and

few double faults and returns in play, were keys.”

Sophomores Claire Rietsch and Butterwick, and freshman Lauren

Thigpen, played singles for the Breakers.

Rietsch dropped two tough games before giving Laguna its 10th and

winning point when she downed the Coyotes’ Eileen Chang, 6-1.

Butterwick overcame a slow start against Chang but had a strong

finish to give the Breakers a key point in a 6-4 victory.

Thigpen, who normally plays at doubles, played well, Ricker said,

in a tough, 4-6 loss to Chang.

Butterwick and Thigpen each lost once in singles play and each had

a match canceled due to darkness.

“I knew the singles players were going to have a tough day,”

Ricker said. “Calabasas probably has the toughest singles lineup in

CIF. I was planning on two points from singles, hoping for three, and

dreaming of four. The girls did their job.”

Kim Ochwat and Briton Simons, at No. 3 doubles, won two of three.

Laguna Beach had advanced to the quarterfinal round by virtue of a

16-2 victory at Foothill Monday.

Rietsch swept at No. 1 singles and Butterwick and Katie Ochwat did

the same at No. 2 and 3 singles.

Doubles sweeps also were recorded by Reed and Ammerman and the No.

2 duo of Miller and Kim Ochwat.

The Breakers began the playoffs by blanking visiting Canyon, 18-0.

Katie Ochwat recorded a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 sweep at No. 3 singles.

Laguna’s boys’ water polo team qualified for the Division I

playoffs but dropped a first-round match to Sea View League winner

Foothill, 21-5.

Nima Mortazavi led the Breakers with three goals against the

third-seeded Knights.

Laguna polo ended its 2003 season with a 14-13 record.