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34 | November 15, 2018 | Malibu surfside news sports malibusurfsidenews.com Girls Tennis After year at odds, Abbey, Clarfield come together Malibu High School girls team up, claim doubles title Ryan Flynn Freelance Reporter Freshman Jaz Abbey rose through the ranks of the Malibu tennis team as a singles player before teaming up with Whitney Clarfield to win a doubles title. They started the year as rivals. Both girls had grown up in Malibu. Both had been playing tennis since they were just 4 years old. Whitney Clarfield, a junior, entered the season looking like the clear-cut No. 2 singles player behind the talented Zoe Nathan, who has been the No. 1 player basically since she set foot on campus at Malibu High School. Malibu graduated six seniors last year, making Clarfield one of the veteran players. Stylistically, Clarfield likes to close out points early on the court, be it by coming to the net or hitting an angle shot. She’s a patient player, unafraid to play safe during a series of volleys and wait out an opponent’s mistake. “I love how mental [tennis] is,” Clarfield said. “It’s really just you and your opponent on the court.” Day 1 of preseason practice, she noticed one of the new players. Freshman Jaz Abbey appeared skilled behind her years. Clarfield sees her as a “tactical player” who is able to key in on her opponent’s weaknesses. Clarfield figured young Abbey would be a good doubles player in her first year, like Clarfield was before moving to singles as a sophomore. Instead, Abbey worked her way toward singles early in the year, earning the No. 3 spot. “The better players play singles so I wanted to strive to be a singles player,” Abbey said. In tennis, the Top 3 players in singles and Top 3 teams in doubles compete against other schools on game day. Each is ranked one through three. Players can “challenge” one another throughout the season in practice to move up the ladder. Abbey began challenging Clarfield. Often. The two were so close in level, that every point was a tight contest. Clarfield called it a grind, working for every point, having to fight for everything. “It was rough,” Clarfield said. The two girls flip-flopped between Nos. 2 and 3 throughout the season. At first, it was tough to form a bond. “It’s hard to form a team environment in a sport where it’s every person or every two people for themselves,” Clarfield said. This was the ultimate seasoning. Being pushed at practice consistently transferred over to the games. Abbey ended the season as the No. 2 player, but both girls had gotten a ton of high-intensity reps due to their rivalry. At season’s end, the team was gearing up for the individual league championships. Malibu was able to send six players: two singles players and two doubles teams. With Nathan taking one singles spot, coach Bruce Young was looking at leaving one of his best players, Clarfield, off the tournament roster. Instead, he had an idea: Why not play his No. 2 and 3 players together in doubles? Thus, Clarfield and Abbey, rivals all season, were now doubles partners. Early on in the tournament, both girls said they had trouble playing together. Each was trying to fit within the team concept, rather than focusing on what made each of them great. “At first we were trying to adapt our own playing styles to doubles, but once we figured out that if we Malibu girls tennis players (left to right) Jaz Abbey, Zoe Nathan and Whitney Clarfield each found success at respective league championships. Photo Submitted MHS junior Whitney Clarfield worked hard to maintain her rank on the team this year, a job made difficult due to tough competition from newcomer Jaz Abbey. photos by suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media both played our own game and got into a rhythm, we actually set up for each other really well,” Clarfield said. They began to click. After a first round bye, Abbey and Clarfield won their next two matches and made it to the final round. In the championship game, they got down early, losing the first three games. “We were still kind of feeling out how to play together,” Clarfield said. Then came the surge. They came back to tie and then won the first set. The second set was back and forth, until the one-time rivals pulled ahead for good. The final score was 6-3, 6-4. Abbey and Clarfield had won the league doubles title. They did so by playing their own games, but doing it together. “Once we stopped trying to fit the stereotype of how doubles teams should play, we got better,” Clarfield said.
malibusurfsidenews.com sports Malibu surfside news | November 15, 2018 | 35 Pepperdine Athletics Lahey to represent Team USA in France Women’s tennis player Ashley Lahey, a junior, has earned a spot on Team USA’s Master’U squad for the second-consecutive year. The Americans will compete in the 2018 BNP Paribas Collegiate Team Competition in Grenoble, France, from Nov. 29-Dec. 2. The U.S. looks to claim title No. 8 in the 13th edition of the annual contest. It will be Team USA’s 11th time vying for the trophy. The United States squad won the Master’U BNP Paribas from 2011 to 2016 and took second in 2017. Lahey, ranked No. 4 in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings, will be joined by Jada Hart (UCLA) and Maria Mateas (Duke) on the women’s side, while the men’s side will include Brandon Holt (USC), Oliver Crawford (Florida) and Emil Reinberg (UGA). The teams — which will compete in a best-of-seven format consisting of two men’s and two women’s singles matches, one men’s and one women’s doubles match, and one mixed doubles match — will face opposition from Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Italy. MEN’S BASKETBALL Cooper Jr.’s 20 points lead Waves to win Pepperdine University’s men’s basketball came back in full force Nov. 7, commanding the court for a 100-66 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. An early 10-0 run put the Waves ahead 13-3. At 25- 20, the Waves went on an 18-4 run, making it 43-24 with less than four minutes to go in the first half. Threepointers by senior guard Eric Cooper Jr. extended the lead to 20 points for the first time at 46-26, and then again for the Waves’ largest lead of the first half at 21 at 49-28. It was 51-33 at halftime. The lead continued to grow in the second half, hitting as many as 40 points multiple times late. Cooper Jr. led the team with 20 points, while sophomore guard Jade’ Smith scored a career-high 18 points, while also picking up six rebounds and four assists. The victory was the Waves’ most lopsided win in a season opener since 1993-94. Due to differences in NCAA rules, the Division II Toros were considering this an exhibition game. Junior forward Kameron Edwards, last season’s leading scorer, sat out the game while recovering from a concussion. MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Waves take 15th at regional Pepperdine finished 15th at the NCAA West Regional Friday, Nov. 9, at Haggin Oaks Golf Course, notching the best result in program history. The Waves were 18th last year and their previous best finish was 17th in 1996. They entered the race ranked 15th in the West Region. The effort was led by freshman Jackson Felkins, who ran the second-fastest 10K in program history (30 minutes, 43.2 seconds) to finish 57th. He was one of five Waves that recorded times putting them in the Waves’ all-time Top 10, with Kyle Johnson (30:55.7) at No. 3, Karl Winter (31:50.4) at No. 6, Preston Gromer (32:01.7) at No. 8 and Justin Touhey (32:21.7) at No. 10. The women took 34th place, their best result since 2014. Abbey Meck ran a 21:57.8 6K to lead the Waves for the 12th time in her 12th career race. Lindsay Sanger ran a 22:53.0, a personal record that moved her up to 20th on the Waves’ all-time 6K list. MEN’S GOLF Waves cap season with invitational appearance Pepperdine closed out its fall season with a thirdplace finish at the Saint Mary’s Invitational on Nov. 7. The Waves were in second place after both the first and second round, but USC pulled ahead of both the Waves and BYU to claim the title. Pepperdine finished with a three-day total of a 4-under 848 (281-282- 285) at the par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Club. Junior Joshua McCarthy, who finished in the Top 10 in four of the five fall tournaments, tied for ninth place with a 3-under 210 (68-71-71). He had four birdies during the final round and a team-high-tying 13 for the tournament. Information from Pepperdine University and www.pepper dinewaves.com. Compiled by Editor Lauren Coughlin, lauren@malibusurfsidenews. com. Running strong — 10 years in Malibu Half Marathon and 5K again sells out, supports local charity Malibu Half Marathon participants start the race on Nov. 4. The 10th annual event, which also included a 5K, supported the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu. Photos by Suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media Julia Budniak finishes the Malibu Half Marathon in first place for women, completing the race in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 19 seconds.
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