CHS girls demonstrate strength in tennis, but come up short of title
By Adam Davis
Special to The Acorn

Earlier this fall, 32 girls tennis teams were competing to be Division IV CIF champions.

Three weeks later the number was reduced to four teams: the defending champion Calabasas Coyotes, the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines, the Chorona Del Mar Sea Kings and the Chaminade Eagles.

With a perfect record of 21-0, the Coyotes faced Harvard-Westlake in mid-November and barely won.

The first match featured Monica Weisner of Calabasas against Harvard-Westlake’s Stephanie Berg in girls’ singles.

Trailing 2-5, Weisner came back to win 7-5.

This was a key win for the Coyotes, because it set the tone for the

rest of the match.

Calabasas pulled ahead in the second round and led 9-8 by the middle of the third round.

The one match remaining would decide whether or not the Coyotes would advance to the finals.

Calabasas doubles players Celia Durkin and Chloe Solomon were down 2-4 in their set, but managed to come back and win 7-5 as the Coyotes took the match, 10-8.

The finals occurred at Claremont Country Club three days later against Corona Del Mar.

With the Sea Kings having five players in the Southern California top 20 and the Coyotes having three, this figured to be a close match.

Calabasas Coach Bill Bellatty tried something new. He put Erin Everly and Celia Durkin in doubles play.

Durkin and partner Jackie Yano got two wins while Everly and Hilary Leewong and Solomon and Andrea Leewong got one win each.

But Weisner won the team’s only singles match.

Even though the Coyotes put up a strong fight, the Sea Kings won the match, 13-5, and took the division championship.