Girls’ Tennis: Third place likely for Estancia

Jay Gardner switched things up for the Estancia High girls’ tennis team Tuesday afternoon against Calvary Chapel.

Gardner stacked his doubles lineup for Estancia’s second Orange Coast League matchup of the year against Calvary Chapel. The goal was to sweep in doubles and have freshman Julianna Balducci win one or two sets in singles, he said.

Balducci lived up to her end of the bargain. She earned a 6-3 win over Calvary Chapel’s Elle Martinez, the girl who had beaten Balducci, 7-5, in a long set in the teams’ first league matchup.

But sweeping Calvary Chapel in doubles proved too tough.

The end result was a 10-8 victory for Calvary Chapel at Estancia High, one that solidified Calvary’s grasp on second place in league behind presumed champion Laguna Beach.

Last year, it was Estancia that finished second in league, with Calvary Chapel third. But this year, Calvary (11-5, 6-1) now has a three-match lead on Estancia (6-8, 3-4), which should still win two of its last three league matches to place third. Estancia owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against Costa Mesa.

“We’ll be in second,” Calvary Chapel Coach Tim Linn said. “Laguna Beach hasn’t lost a league match in 11 years in our league, so we’re always fighting for second. Everybody’s fighting for second. I mean, it’s like winning first, because you don’t count Laguna.”

Linn said he was surprised to see Estancia stack its doubles lineup for the teams’ second league meeting. Calvary Chapel won the first one, 11-7, on Sept. 22.

“I didn’t even really think of that,” Linn said. “That was a good move. I just played a normal lineup, so I’m really proud of the girls. They seem to play better in the second and third round. They never give up, so I’m really proud of them.”

Linn saw his top two singles players, Aimee Fabella and Justice Tien, easily sweep on Tuesday. Martinez won two of three sets.

Estancia did fare well in doubles, winning seven of nine sets. But only the No. 1 team of senior Lauren Weisser and junior Annie Mitchell was able to sweep, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0. Estancia’s teams of seniors Julie Makley and Delani Guyot, as well as seniors Meg Tuxford and Sarah Mack, both won two out of three sets. But each lost to Calvary’s No. 1 team of Alicia Dwyer and Lexi Parks.

In the second round, Makley and Guyot nearly came back from a 5-1 deficit against Dwyer and Parks, but the Calvary duo was able to hold on for a 6-4 victory. They then beat Tuxford and Mack, 6-2, in the third round.

“Their No. 1 team, they’re good,” Gardner said. “We had to play good to beat them, and they just played better than us. But we gave it a good shot. I thought it was a good strategy. Almost. We really had to almost sweep every doubles [set] to have a good chance, and that was asking a lot.”

Estancia was tied 3-3 after one round and 6-6 after two, but lost too many lopsided singles sets to win if the match had come to games.

Estancia continues Orange Coast League play at Saddleback on Thursday.