By Pete Borello

Entering this week undefeated, the Pinewood School girls tennis team appears to be on course to make the Central Coast Section playoffs for the second straight year.

This season, however, the Panthers don’t expect to make such an early exit.

“When we got to CCS last year, we weren’t prepared to deal with the high stress and high level of play,” said Pinewood coach Corinne Mansourian, whose team lost a 4-3 decision to Saratoga in the second round. “Our goal after the tournament was to teach the girls how to play under big pressure to make them better.”

So Mansourian changed the way Pinewood practices, putting more of an emphasis on “setting up break points and working through them.”

Although the Panthers haven’t had a lot of chances to test this new training method - they’ve won most of their 10 matches convincingly - Mansourian is confident her team will hold up better under pressure.

“I think we’ve matured,” the sixth-year coach said. “The girls have raised the standards for the team and the program.”

Mansourian said this year’s team is as good, if not better than, last year’s 19-1 squad. Her aspirations for this season are high, yet realistic.

“I’d say we can finish in the top four or five in CCS,” she said. “I’d like to see us get to the quarterfinals.”

With sophomore sensation Lejla Hodzic playing No. 1 singles and a solid group of players behind her, the Panthers certainly seem capable of reaching this goal.

“We have a lot of depth and we’ll never lose at No. 1 when Lejla’s playing,” Mansourian said. “No one in CCS can beat her.”

The coach said Hodzic “has a complete game” and will only get better. She has played in just five matches this year - winning them all in straight sets - because she’s often busy playing or preparing for international competition.

Hodzic’s absence has allowed No. 2 player Paula Lea, a senior, to gain plenty of experience playing at the top spot.

“It’s preparing her for CCS,” Mansourian said, “and she’s having a very good season.”

And there’s no drop off at No. 3 singles, according to the coach, who raves about freshman Mele Pelea.

“She a very solid No. 3,” Mansourian said. “She was ranked in the top 30 (of her age group) in Northern California last year.”

No. 4 player Liz Ashby, who also plays basketball, has impressed Mansourian as well.

“She’s a great mental competitor and a great athlete,” the coach said.

In doubles, Anne Yeh and Irene Guerra are on their way to becoming the Private Schools Athletic League’s top tandem for the third year in a row.

The freshman duo of Stephanie Herman and Jessica Goldband have more than held their own at No. 2, Mansourian said, and are as good as Yeh-Guerra.

Pinewood’s most vulnerable spot is at No. 3 doubles, the coached admitted, though Kristen Egan and Melissa McElroy are showing signs of improvement.

The Panthers, 8-0 in the PSAL, face their biggest challenger for the league title at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, when they host Harker. Pinewood edged Harker 4-3 earlier in the season.

The Panthers are coming off a week in which they beat Palo Alto 5-2 in a non-league match Oct. 1, then walloped PSAL foe Mercy-Burlingame 7-0 the next day in Los Altos Hills.