Girls Tennis
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TEAM ROUNDUP The 2012 team play has come to an end, although CIF individual does not start until Nov 19. Playing in this exclusive tournament will be Cara Cummings with Kelsey Testman and Natalie Wek with Zoe Kaffen. Recap of the varsity team record: JSerra 2012 Varsity record was 14 - 5; 6 -2 in league. This 2nd place finish was the highest ever and this was our first ever 'over 500' record in wins/losses. We obliterated 2011's record of 8 - 12, competing against most of the same teams ! Here is Orange County's TOP TEN TEAMS list according to the Register: 1. University 2. Dana Hills 3. Santa Margarita 4. Tesoro 5. Los Alamitos 6. Corona del Mar 7. Canyon 8. San Clemente 9. Troy 10. Sage Hill "What were they thinking!!!?" We had 5 losses, 2 of them league losses to the #3 team, SM and 2 losses to the #4 team, Tesoro. Our only other loss was 2nd match of the year, 8-10 to Foothill, in which Coach substituted liberally. Capping this off, we beat Sage Hill solidly 11 - 7 . Is JSerra the county's #10 team??? ...[ In typical high school verbage ] "Just Sayin' !!! " . Wednesday Oct 31 CIF 2st round JSerra 4 - Tesoro 14 = loss The Lady Lions traveled to Tesoro for a rematch of an earlier preseason match. We 'stacked' doubles, knowing Tesoro's singles lineup was very solid. To our credit, their coach stacked his doubles trying to make up for the 5 points they lost there last time. Our girls competed very well. All 3 JV girls that were asked to join the varsity squad, got to play. Nilou Sheybani, MVP of Trinity League JV, was one of these players and she defeated her opponent, a regular starter for the Titans, 6 - 3. Our doubles play was awesome ! The key to this Division 1 tournament is in winning league so you go in to the event as a #1 team, drawing a #3 team and home field advantage. The #2 teams in CIF are obviously very strong. Thursday Oct 23 Trinity League Tournament Individuals Host, JSerra, entered this event with the top 2 seeds in doubles and 5th/6th seeds ['placed'] in singles. Natalie Wek and Mary Kaffen with a league record of 23 - 1 are the #1 seed with Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman at the #2 spot with a 22-1 record. The next closest team, #3 seed had 15 sets won. Mary Kaffen and Eliza Day were 'placed' in the 5th and 6th spots in singles. Wek/Kaffen and Cummings/Testman lived up to their seedings as they swept their round of 16 and quarter final matches 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 respectively ! The 'upset' of the day was JSerra freshman Mary Kaffen's dominance of the #4 seed from Santa Margarita in the quarter finals; 6-1, 7-6 [7-3]. Mary had just defeated this girl last week in a dual match 6-1 . Lizzy Celentano and Hannah Griesemer won their first round doubles match and Eliza Day advanced to the quarter finals in singles before losing to the #4 seed from OLu. In the 'yonder years', before Leslie Chang, we never were in the tournament the second day, which consists of semis and final matches. We are in there in a BIG way this year! Hear us ROOOAAARRR ! Go Lions ! Monday Oct 22; JSerra 12 - Orange Lutheran 6 = League Win Wow! Sole possession of 2nd place and on to CIF ! 1st ever sweeps [home & away] over, Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, and Rosary ! 1st ever 2nd place finish !. Cara Cummings with Kelsey Testman and Zoe Kaffen with Natalie Wek swept their respective 3 sets in doubles; Eliza Day and Mary Kaffen both added 2 sets in singles. Santa Margarita is league champ 8-0, Jserra 6-2, and OLu 4-4 will represent the Trinity League in the CIF play offs. Thursday Oct 18; JSerra 6 - Santa Margarita 12 = League Loss The Lady Lions, missing 6 seniors, traveled to SM and battled valiantly for a share of the league championship to no avail. A very bright spot was freshman Mary Kaffens SOLID win over SM's #3 player 6-1. Natalie Wek and Zoe Kaffen dropped their very 1st set of the year in league play, Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman also captured 2 sets. Thank you to Bria Peterson and Nika Contursi for moving up from JV to fill in ! This leaves us with a 13 - 5 overall record, 5 - 2 in league play. Senior day is Monday vs OLu ! Tuesday Oct. 16; JSerra 14 - Rosary 4 = League Win ! The Lady Lions swept Rosary in the 2nd half of home and away match. JSerra had 6 seniors from varsity away at Kairos and had to move 3 JV players up to ensure this victory. Samantha Ramirez made her varsity debut special by winning 2 of the 3 doubles sets she played with Emily Lown. The other doubles teams, Zoe Kaffen with Natalie Wek and Cara Cummings with Kelsey Testman swept all 3 of their sets each as did Mary Kaffen and Eliza Day in singles. Special thanks to Sheridan Houck, Grace Portice and Lauren Cooper, who also made their inaugural varsity debuts, getting ready for next year. JSerra moves to 13 - 3 on the year, 6 -1 in league. The big rematch with Santa Margarita is this Thursday @ SM, for the league championship! Monday Oct. 15; JSerra 18 - Tar But V' Torah 0 = Win The Lady Lions growled hard today, as another set of Lions tried to invade the Pride. In an unscheduled event [long story] the Lions gave up only 8 games in 15 sets, Tar But' defaulted all #3 doubles sets. Next year, we will be going back to playing this match with our frosh-soph team as originally scheduled. Winning all sets played today, with number of sets played in [ ] were; Nilou Sheybani [3], Emily Lown [3], Samantha Ramirez [2] Montana Cooper [2], Natalie Wek [1], Vanessa Zuck [1], Hannah Griesemer [1], Frankie Marino [2], KAthryn Kavanaugh [2], Cara Cummings [1], Kelsey Testman [1]....moving the JSerra Lions to a 12 - 3 overall record ! Thursday Oct 11; JSerra 15 - St. Margret's 3 = Win ! BIG MILESTONE today as The Lady Lions opened a big can of whipping cream on St Margret's, 15 - 3 ! This [opposing] team had won 100 matches in a row until just recently...had they played us earlier, when originally scheduled, we would have been the spoiler [IMO of course]. This was a non-league match, but we have played this team on a regular basis for the last 4 years. Natalie Wek with partner Zoe Kaffen won all 3 of their doubles sets 6-0; Kelsey Testman and Cara Cummings swept all 3 doubles sets as did Mary Kaffen in singles. Eliza Day and Emily Lown both added 2 singles sets, Lizzy Celentano and Hannah Griesemer added 2 sets in doubles too. I don't think the 'youngsters' on our team really know what they have accomplished, as the Lady Lions improve their record to 11 wins vvs. 3 losses; 4 and 1 in Trinity League play. Big week next week! Thanks for your support ! Coach Keith, Kirk, Bridgette, and Chelsea ! Tuesday Oct 9; JSerra 16 - Mater Dei 2 = League Win ! Another 1st as the Lady Lions sweep Mater Dei in both dual matches this season by scores of 15-3 and todays rematch @ Los Cab, 16-2. This is definitely a milestone for JSerra, we have come a long, long way; and we are not done yet! Sweeping ALL singles matches for 9 points were Eliza Day, Emily Day, Mary Kaffen, and subs, Emily Lown and Montana Cooper. Cara Cummings with Kelsey Testman and Natalie Wek with Zoe Kaffen swept all 3 of their respective sets; Hannah Griesemer with Lizzy Celentano captured 1 of the 2 sets they played. Vanessa and Valerie Bukowski came to watch as well; it is strange seeing them in Mater Dei garb, and will be even stranger playing against them next year. We have the league 'bye' Thursday, but have a strong, non-league opponent coming in, St. Margaret's. See you there ! Thursday Oct 4; JSerra 13 - Orange Lutheran 5 = League Win ! The Lions completed the 1st half of league play today with a solid victory over the Lancers, leaving the girls in sole possession of 2nd place; record of 9 - 3 overall, 3 - 1 in league. Sweeping all 3 doubles sets were Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman and also Natalie Wek with Zoe Kaffen. All 3 singles players, Eliza Day, Emily Lown, and Mary Kaffen beat OLu's line 2 and 3 singles. Lizzy Celentano and Hannah Griesemer won a pivotal 1st round doubles set, 7-5. We open the 2nd round of league play next Tuesday @ Mater Dei. Go Lions! Tuesday Oct. 2; JSerra 5 - Santa Margarita 13 = League loss The girls played well today; several sets could have gone either way. The captains called for a varsity practice only, the day before on one of the hottest days of the year and the extra work paid off, especially in doubles. Natalie Wek with partner Zoe Kaffen swept all 3 doubles sets. They also swept Tesoro's doubles last week, these are 2 teams from the OC Top Ten!. Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman took 2 of the 3 sets they played today... Coach will tweak the lineup a little for the rematch in a few weeks and in the meantime, we need to take care of OLu Thursday to assure sole possession of 2nd place going in to the 2nd half of the season! Thursday Sept. 27; JSerra 15 - Rosary 3 = League Win! The Lions roamed far from the Pride as they traveled to Fullerton City College, Rosary's new venue,and dealt them a league loss. Eliza Day and Zoe Kaffen both swept their 3 singles opponents decisively; yielding only 7 games in 6 sets. Cara Cummings, along with cousin, Kelsey Testman and Natalie Wek, playing with Mary Kaffen swept all 3 of their respective sets decisively as well. Lizzy Celentano with partner Hannah Griesemer added 2 more doubles sets with Emily Lown winning the 1 singles set she played. The Lions move to 8 wins, 2 losses; 2 - 0 in Trinity League play. We host Orange County's #8 team, Santa Margarita, Tuesday. A win here would leave us in sole possession of 1st place in league and should propel us in to the OC's top 10 list for the first time ever! Please come support us next week! Go Lions! Tuesday Sept. 25; JSerra 18 - Capo Valley Christian 0 = Win CVC, missing their top two players was the victim today of the Lady Lions. Playing several subs and JV players, the Lions still managed to sweep all matches played [18 was reached via forfeited #3 doubles sets]. Frankie Marino with doubles partner Katherine Kavanaugh won their 1st set in a close tiebreaker. Also sweeping all sets played in doubles were Hannah Griesemer with Vanessa Zuck, who didn't lose a single game! Singles 'sweepers' were Lizzy Celentano, Samantha Ramirez, and Madi McFarland. The Lions move to 7 -2, league play resumes Thursday 27th. Go Lions! Monday Sept. 24; JSerra 6 vs Tesoro 12 = Loss. Historically, Tesoro is one of the county's top programs, they have depth from top to bottom. Our Lions performed very well, the 1st round of 6 matches all could have gone either way. One very bright spot was Natalie Wek and Zoe Kaffen sweeping all three of their sets! Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman added another doubles point, as did Lizzy Celentano and Hannah Griesemer coming from 1-5 down !. Emily Lown picked up 1 singles set. Another very bright spot was the play of Mary Kaffen playing singles. Mary played valiantly in all 3 of her singles losses, VERY close matches; there is a huge upside to this student-athlete's future! Thursday Sept. 20; JSerra 15 vs Mater Dei 3 = League Win ! Bolting out of the den, the Lady Lines swept the first round of play with 6 victories and never let up! This was a resounding victory in the first Trinity League match of 2012. Our singles teams won 8 of 9 matches played, Eliza Day and Mary Kaffen sweeping all 3 of their sets. Doubles teams of Natalie Wek/Zoe Kaffen and Cara Cummings/Kelsey Testman swept all 3 of their doubles sets as well. Hard work is rewarded! We are taking a 6 - 1 record in to next weeks play. Go Lions! Tuesday Sept. 18; JSerra 15 vs San Juan Hills 3 = Win ! The girls tennis team traveled to San Juan Hills and corralled the Stallions in decisive fashion. The Lady Lions swept all 9 singles sets by scores of 6 - 0; that is a total of 54 games to zero games. The singles players accomplishing this were Zoe and Mary Kaffen, 3 sets a piece, Eliza Day 2 sets and Emily Lown adding 1. Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman added 3 sets in doubles with Katherine Kavanaugh and Frankie Marino adding 1. Montana Cooper added 2 doubles sets, pairing with Lizzy Celentano then Vanessa Zuck. The girls have a very good head of steam, carrying a 5 - 1 record in to league play Thursday at home vs. Mater Dei. Monday Sept. 17; JSerra 10 vs Sage Hill 8 = Win ! Wow! Coach is still speechless! We set store by 2 preseason matches every year, Sage Hill and St Margaret's, who usually play each other for their division CIF championship. This is the FIRST win by a JSerra varsity team over Sage Hill! Still shuffling lineups with the unexpected and unfortunate loss of 2 doubles starters, it appears as if the Lions may have found the correct formula. Sweeping all 3 singles sets was Mary Kaffen as her twin sister, Zoe and Eliza Day captured 2 singles points each. Mary's upset win over Sage's #1 player was incredible. Doubles teams of Emily Lown/Natalie Wek, Kelsey Testman/Cara Cummings, and Hannah Griesemer/Lizzy Celentano all added 1 set each. Hannah and Lizzy's set was last match on, and it was the clincher, giving us the 10th point, averting the 9-9 tie situation. The Lady Lions move to 4 -1 with one more match prior to league opener this Thursday, vs Mater Dei at home ! Thursday Sept. 13; JSerra 15 vs Trabuco Hills 3 = Win ! JSerra's Lady Tennis Lions roared loudly in this match. This 4 year running battle with the Mustangs has always produced very tight scores, but the 2012 edition of the Lions team is deep in ability and it showed on the scoreboard. Coach is still moving players around and subbing liberally and fielded new doubles partners for this event. Cara Cummings paired with Zoe Kaffen yielded only 3 games sweeping all 3 sets played. Kelsey Testman with Vanessa won all their doubles sets as did Eliza Day and Mary Kaffen in singles. Vanessa Zuck with Hannah Griesemer added a doubles set, along with Emily Lown and Montana Cooper who added 2 points. Natalie Wek has won 4 out of her last 6 sets played at the #2 singles spot. This leaves us with a 3 - 1 preseason record, with a couple more matches before league play opens next Thursday! Go Lions ! Tuesday Sept. 11; JSerra 11 vs El Toro 7 = Win! The Lady Lions avenged a 2011 loss to the Chargers by handing them a 11 - 7 defeat, dominating the doubles by taking 7 of the possible 9 sets and adding 4 singles victories as well. Cara Cummings with partner Kelsey Testman and twins Zoe and Mary Kaffen on all three of their sets. Singles players Eliza Day and Natalie Wek each added 2 sets in singles with the additional doubles point being captured by seniors Hannah Griesemer and Vanessa Zuck! This improves our record to 2 -1 as we host Trabuco Hills Thursday the 13th. Go Lions! Varsity results: Wednesday, Sept. 5th: JSerra 8 vs Foothill 10 , = loss Fantastic finish as this match literally came down to the last few points. The Lions were hoping to capture this last singles set for a 9-9 tie and a victory with 61 games vs. 60 games total. The doubles teams carried the team again with Cara Cummings with Kelsey Testman and twins Zoe and Mary Kaffen sweeping all 3 sets they played, placing 6 of our 8 points on the board. Subbing liberally, is always going to be the pattern in preseason matches, as Coach Kirk plays everyone in attendance. Trinity League is creeping up on us! Picture Day this coming Monday..all shutterbugs welcome! Tues Aug 28; JSerra 9 , Mission Viejo 9 = WIN JSerra wins on total games, 75 - 72 ! Great doubles outing today as JSerra sweeps 8 of the 9 doubles sets. To of our top players succumbed to the intense heat and humidity, but replacements stepped up nicely. Sweeping all 3 sets were Vanessa Bukowski and Kelsey Testman and also Zoe and Mary Kaffen, all in doubles. Most importantly, we knew this match would most likely come down to total game count and these girls won their sets handily! |
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