Corneli Reaches City Quarters

At the start of the season, Jessie Corneli had two personal goals: help the Palisades High tennis team win the City team championship and advance farther in the Individual tournament than she did last year. Corneli’s first goal went unfulfilled when Palisades was upset by El Camino Real in the semifinals of the team playoffs in November. She had a chance to make good on her second goal when she played Cassandra Fisbeck of Granada Hills on Monday at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. Corneli reached the third round last fall and after breezing to a 6-1, 6-0 second-round win over Pauline Villaflores of Monroe last Friday, she found herself in the same spot. Corneli was also the only Dolphin left in the tournament after Perri Zaret had to default her second round match against Eagle Rock’s Nicole Kim because of illness and Malina Loehrer and Dahlia Shamsian fell in the second round of the doubles draw to Venice sisters Sarah and Pina Mercado, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)’the same duo Palisades’ pair had defeated 8-4 in Western League play. “It’s disappointing because it was our chance,” said Shamsian, who wants to major in psychology or pharmacy at UCLA. “The team loss definitely hurt more, but we still wanted to win and we played well. They just played a little better.” Despite raising her level of play in the second set, Corneli lost to Fisbeck, 6-1, 6-2, in a match that likely would’ve taken place at the City team finals had Palisades made it because both played No. 2 singles for their respective teams. “Actually, I’d rather play someone who can hit the ball hard like her,” said Corneli, who wants to play more junior tournaments and try yoga to better prepare herself for her senior season. “I mainly tried to hit the ball deep to make longer rallies and keep her back.” Though Zaret has already been declared captain for next season, Corneli also wants to set an example for her teammates going into next season. “I guess we just weren’t supposed to win it this year,” Corneli said, always accentuating the positive. “I played really well this season but I want to do even better next year.”