UKIAH — Andreina Guedez of Clear Lake High School breezed through the first set and rallied from behind in the second to beat Megan Schneider of Willits High School 6-0, 6-0 in the girls” singles title match on Tuesday during the Coastal Mountain Conference Tennis Championships at Mendocino College in Ukiah.
“I think she might be the first girl at Clear Lake to win in singles,” Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said of Guedez, a foreign exchange student from Venezuela. “It was a nice win for her.”
Guedez, the No. 1 seed, advanced to the finals with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Madison Thompson of St. Vincent.
In the other semifinal, Megan Schneider defeated sister Bri Schneider for the second year in a row. Megan Schneider lost to Middletown”s Miriam Lane in last year”s final.
Lake County”s bid for a sweep in singles fell short when No. 2 seed Moses Kuzu of Kelseyville dropped a hard-fought 6-4, 6-1 decision to No. 1 Noah Lee of Waldorf School in the boys” final. It was a rematch of last year”s semifinals also won by Lee. Kuzu had his serve broken once in the first set and that was enough to make the difference, according to Kelseyville coach Jeff McLaren.
Lee, now the two-time CMC singles champion, is a junior like Kuzu, setting the stage for a third meeting between the players next year.
“I”m sure they”ll meet again,” McLaren said. “He (Moses) did have a good whack at him. The thing with Lee is his shots are so penetrating. He hits them so deep, it really wears you down.
“Moses hung in there in that first set,” McLaren said. “He”s such a good kid.”
Lake County also picked up a doubles title as the all-sophomore Middletown team of Nika Gibbs and Maddie Kucer outlasted Sarah Gamble and Callie Flood of St. Helena 7-6 (7-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the girls” doubles championship.
“It was a hot day out there and we survived,” Middletown coach Vic Wroobel said.
Gibbs and Kucer did their best to negate their opponent”s strength, according to Wroobel. “They kept to their game, which was deep lobs to keep the St. Helena girls from dominating at the net,” Wroobel said. “That and just steady play.”
Another factor in the win was Gibbs” serving.
“Gibbs won a lot of points on serves,” Wroobel said.
Because the North Coast Section officially recognizes girls” tennis as a fall sport, Gibbs and Kucer will represent the CMC in the NCS Championships at the end of the 2011 fall sports season.
St. Helena, undefeated during the regular season, earned enough points at the CMC Championships to nail down the CMC Central title. Middletown came in second.
