Calabasas girls’ tennis players perform well at Marmonte League Championships

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers BIG DAY FOR BRITTNEY—Calabasas sophomore Brittney Harper returns a forehand shot against teammate Jillian Schnitman during Tuesday’s Marmonte League Championships individual final at the Pacific Tennis Club in Westlake. Harper won the match, 6-3 and 6-1. Both girls now advance to CIF. Calabasas sophomore Brittney Harper won the singles title, and Thousand Oaks sisters Lauren and Jenna Ritz captured the doubles championship as the Marmonte League Girls’ Tennis Championships concluded Tuesday afternoon at the Pacific Tennis Club in Westlake.

Harper defeated her teammate, Jillian Schnitman, in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-1.

Both girls will now advance to the CIF Individual Sectionals Sat., Nov. 19 at Oak Park and Agoura high schools.

“I wanted (Schnitman) to do as well as me,” Harper said. “But I wanted to win, too.”

Calabasas head coach Kim Kinberg said she had to refrain from coaching and instead just sit back and objectively watch as two of her top singles players went back and forth on the court.

“As a coach, you can’t really coach them,” Kinberg said. “By that point they’re good players. They’re tournament players that know what they need to do. For me, it was enjoyable just to sit back and watch them play.”

The Ritz sisters from Thousand Oaks had little trouble with the Calabasas’ doubles tandem of Valerie Chang and Tiffany Harper, winning 6-0 and 6-2.

The Lancer sisters didn’t drop a set during the two-day competition.

“It was their decision to play together,” T.O. head coach Dave Assorson said. “They played singles all year. They wanted to play together and figured they could go pretty far in the CIF playing as a doubles team.”

Lauren Ritz said she and her sister didn’t expect to dominate like they did; they just wanted to play hard and let the chips fall where they may.

“It a great accomplishment to go the whole tournament without losing a set,” Lauren said. “We’re excited about the way we played out there, but I wouldn’t say (sweeping the tournament) was an expectation.”

According to Kinberg, the Ritz sisters are successful in doubles play because they know how to feed off each other, and they have the proper on-court technique to win.

“They’re aggressive,” Kinberg said. “You don’t see a lot of girls, especially at the high school level, you don’t see a lot of girls serve and volley. . . .

“They overtake the net on their opponents, and that’s the key to winning doubles,” Kinberg said. “You win it at the net, you don’t win it at the baseline.”

As with the both singles competitors, each doubles team will also advance to the CIF Individual Sectionals.

In the third-place consolation matches, the Calabasas’ doubles tandem of Eileen Chang and Jennifer Bernstein got past Westlake’s Hilary MacDonald and Daniela Koss, 6-1 and 6-4.

Agoura’s Blair Brzeski defeated Moorpark’s Anna Karra in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-4, in the third-place singles consolation match.

The Marmonte doesn’t have a team tournament at the conclusion of the regular season.

Based on the final league standings, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Westlake and Moorpark have all qualified for the team portion of CIF.

All four schools are scheduled to have their openinground matches today, but the recent rainy weather could play a factor in having the day’s matches start on time.