Wednesday, September 10, 2008

LPL Girls Tennis Preview


LPL Girls Tennis
The local girls tennis scene has been dominated in recent years by the Santa Ynez Pirates and the St. Joseph Knights. Last year SY & St. Joe tied for the LPL Title and both are expected to challenge again this year. The question may come down to a battle between the Knights depth in singles vs. the Pirates strength in doubles.
Lompoc and Cabrillo have some experience and the Conquistadors have numbers. Templeton and Morro Bay battled in 07 for the third CIF slot and return a few All-LPL players, and Santa Maria is showing some signs of improvement. The big change in the league though is the coaching change at Templeton, where Jessie Ritchie (above) takes over.

Lompoc
The Braves return a strong senior contingent this year for Head Coach Loretta Jensen. Paty Martinez, Elicity Fabing (left), Dana Campitelli, Maria Morales, Kaitlyn Munoz, & Renee Xiong are joined on the varsity by junior Jessica Cosio and sophomores Nicole Nomany & Sameeha Husayn.

Coach Jim Steffey has Katelyn Lee (11), Korina Esqueda (11), Serena Zuares (10), Azucena Villalobos (11), Emily Tremblay (11), Ashley Branson (11), Gold Vang (11), Rosa Careno (11), Isabel Anguiano (11), Miriam Lopez (10), Jessie Smith (10), and Julia Abrego (9).

In 2007 the Braves #1 singles player (Courtney Stumpo ) fought injuries, including back problems, all year. Paty Martinez stepped up to the #1 spot late. Soph Connie Aguilera also had some big wins down the stretch - earning All-LPL Honorable Mention honors, but has elected not to play this year. Morales & Campitelli went 19-8 (70%) and earned 2nd team All-LPL.
Lompoc should improve on the 8-10 [3-9] record they posted last time out.

Cabrillo
MaryBeth Stieber's Conquistadores also have a strong core of returners, including - Kathryn Carlson (12), Julie Leyva (11), Lanae Magers (12), Brissa Montes (12), Jessica Montes (12), & Elle Peirtsegaele (11). Magers teamed with the now graduated Lynsey McLain to post a 19-9 record as the only Cabrillo qualifiers for the All-LPL team.

The player pool for both Stieber & JV team honcho Doug Meeder also include :
Seniors Amy Devenoge, Lindsie Holloway, & Jocelyn Walton;
Juniors Eisha Ayyar & Ashley Pennewell ;
Sophomores Ashley Bowman, Eloisa Castillo, Lauren Dalton, Liane Hawk, Lauren Murphy, Nikki Peirtsegaele, Kaitlyn Phillips, Breanna Piper-Williams, Andriana Siefe, Kimberly Smith, Alena Taber, & Ashley Trolio;and freshman Kaylin Rentschler.

Santa Ynez
The Pirates had a very strong presence on the All-LPL team last year with almost every regular being listed.
Singles- Alisa Silsbee (1st team, 20-1 , soph), Claire Hemming (2nd team, 26-6, Snr), Siobhann Shinn (HM, Snr).
Doubles- Emily Inernan (9) / Lauren Swift (11) [31-0]Erica Schroeder (11) / Chelsea Weatherby (12) [11-3]Kendall Ward (12) / Katie Manser (12) [10-5].
With the returners they have and the girls coming up from a very sucessfull JV team, expect them to prevail.

St Joseph
The Knights were almost as dominant as SY, kind of a #1 & 1A situation, with Singles MVP Ane' McPike (36-0, Jnr) joined by 1st Teamers Whitney Brooks (30-4), freshman Frankie Eczes (13-1), and Katie McPike / Shelby Brooks [29-7], plus LPL HM Nadia Gutierrez. Whitney Brooks and Katie McPike were seniors, but never fear Knights fans another McPike has arrived - freshman Ellie.

Varsity - Bouquet, Whitney 10; Brooks, Shelby 12; Eszes, Frankie 10; Kawatachi, Moana 10; McPike, Ane 12; McPike, Ellie 9; Noe, Christine 10; Thomas, Victoria 12; Villanueva, Julia 12; White, Sammy 11
Zimmer, Kayla 12

JV - Chartier, Brittany 9; Dascanio, Angelene 10; Jaeckels, Paige 10; Jones, Jonay 10; Lay, Nicky 9; Mantoura, Christina 9; Mariscal, Ariana 9; Martino, Megan 10; Mitchell, Abigail 9; Oakes, Mollie 9; Panchal, Jesal 9; Patel, Jayna 10

Santa Maria

The Great Enigma. Santa Maria was a somewhat competitive team last year with a small group of solid but unspectacular players led by senior Belin Balderas. You never knew who they had or if the would show up. Ditto this year.

Morro Bay
The "other" Pirates were fighting for a playoff most of the year, mostly on the basis of play by 2nd Team All-LPL singles players Rene O'Steen (29-7, 12), Kim Dauer (29-7, 11) and LPL HM Jessie Namla. Do they have enough to hold off Lompoc & Cabrillo this year ? Maybe.

Templeton
The Eagles had middle of the pack finish last year and put three players on the All-LPL Team, 1st Team doubles pair Iira Jantti (12) / Natalie Hoage (11) [24-6] and HM Catherine Townsend (12). But the big news on campus is the new Coach - Jessie Ritchie, who takes over for the departed Connie Baird.

Ritchie is a 2003 grad of Arroyo Grande HS, where she was All- League for four years and finished first in the Pac-5 as a senior. A scolarship player at Cuesta College, she finished third in state both years and won the Arthur Ashe Award. She then matriculated from Indiana Univ. / Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis in 2007 and is working on her teaching credential. She was the #2 player on teams that won consecutive conference crowns - being named first to the conference Second, then First Teams. Her JV coach will be a familliar face - her dad and THS boys tennis coach Dave Ritchie.

Returning players include Hoage, Taylor Eisemann, senior Jennifer Graves, and sophomores Kate Anselmi & Erin Roberts. -- el stato

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