CdM blanks Santa Margarita to open season

It could be a special season for the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team.

Players and parents felt it before Tuesday’s home season opener against Santa Margarita. And the final score seemed to validate that thought.

The Sea Kings blanked the Eagles, 18-0.

Corona del Mar is talented and deep, with six returning starters from the team that narrowly lost to Harvard-Westlake last year on games in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. Senior Danielle Willson, last year’s Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year, leads that group.

But the Sea Kings also got three talented transfers into their lineup. Seniors Annika Bassey and Paulina Loredo came from Ojai and Texas, respectively. Kristina Evloeva was living in Newport Coast the whole time, but recently enrolled at CdM for her junior year. Evloeva was cleared to play just after Tuesday’s match began, so she subbed in for the final two rounds.

Add in three talented freshmen in Lauren Friedman, Reece Kenerson and Alden Mulroy, as well as two players up from last year’s junior varsity in junior Dylan Matesky and sophomore Ashley Thomas. Then consider the rest of the returning starters, including Brooke Kenerson, Roxy MacKenzie, Shaya Northrup, Bella McKinney and Emily Freyman.

It’s a program that has lost in the Division 1 semifinals each of the last four years, but could be ready to take the next step. CdM coach Jamie Gresh said it’s the best team in his six years coaching in the program.

“[The transfers] are all really nice tennis girls that are excited to be on the team,” Gresh said. “We’ve talked about that this could be a very special season, but it comes down to being great teammates and working with each other, being one cohesive unit. The camaraderie and the friendships are super-important to me. That’s a big part of high school athletics. When the matches get close, it’s the teams that have gone that extra mile in practices and matches.”

To that end, Willson said the players did a lot of team bonding after three days of very competitive tryouts last week.

Santa Margarita offered little challenge. CdM won all 18 sets, with scores ranging from 6-0 to 6-3. Willson swept, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. So did Bassey at No. 2 singles (6-2, 6-1, 6-1) and MacKenzie at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-0, 6-3).

“[High school tennis] is different, but I like it,” Bassey said. “It’s a little bit more fun [than tournaments]. We’ve had lots of team bonding, so we’ve spent a lot of time together. We’re all nice and close, which is good. We’re all good friends now.

“We were all kind of nervous to start the season. We know we’re a strong team, which kind of adds pressure, a little bit. It’s good to get the first match out of the way.”

The doubles teams of Northrup and Laredo, as well as Brooke Kenerson and Friedman, both won twice before they were subbed out. McKinney swept at No. 3 doubles with two different partners, Freyman and Evloeva.

Reece Kenerson and Mulroy, as well as Matesky and Thomas, each subbed in for doubles wins in the last round.

The players gathered together at the end of the quick match to watch the final set on court. MacKenzie beat Santa Margarita’s No. 1 player, Elizabeth Bondy, 6-3 to end it.

“I think we have a really good chance this year,” Willson said. “It’s important that we all stay close and support each other. Honestly, I think that if we all try really hard and fight for every point, I think we can go pretty far. Last year we were almost there against Harvard-Westlake, it was just a matter of four games.”

CdM plays at Sage Hill on Wednesday.

[email protected]

Twitter: @mjszabo