PREP TENNIS: CALABASAS RELYING MORE ON STRATEGY.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

There was little need for the Calabasas High girls' tennis team to worry about who was playing where for most of the season. With singles players like Monica Wiesner, Celia Durkin and Erin Everly and solid doubles players, essentially any combination produced easy victories.

However, tougher competition has finally arrived for the Coyotes and coach Bill Bellatty is getting to show his strategical skills. His juggling of the lineup proved critical in defeating Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood on Thursday.

The day before Calabasas' attempt for a second consecutive Southern Section Division IV title, Bellatty wasn't about to reveal anything other than he is looking forward to a challenge when his second-seeded Coyotes face No. 1 seed Corona del Mar in today's final at 11:30 a.m. at the Claremont Club.

``I'm not sure what we're going to do,'' he said. ``I really can't tell you much.''

What Bellatty can't hide is that Calabasas is 21-0, spent the season as the division's top-ranked team, had lost just three singles games prior to the semifinals and has a singles player (Wiesner) and a doubles team (Durkin and Andrea Leewong) headed to the round of 16 in the division individual tournament.

It's also no secret that Pacific Coast League champion Corona del Mar is 20-2 and has cruised through the postseason with even greater ease than the Coyotes. The Sea Kings defeated Chaminade of West Hills 18-0 in the semifinals.

That's why Bellaty is devoting so much time to strategy.

His decision to move Durkin, who is undefeated as a singles player, to doubles was pivotal in the semifinals. Durkin and Chole Solomon beat Harvard-Westlake's No. 1 doubles team in the deciding set of the Coyotes' 10-8 victory.

The match is the first Bellaty can remember in which Calabasas lost more than four sets this season. ``It gets tough when the girls are walking through every match 18-0,'' Bellatty said.