Following an impressive run through the 2014 CCCAA singles and doubles championships, Orange Coast College women's tennis standout Hali Dickson is ready for even bigger and better things in 2015.
Dickson, who came to OCC last year from Sunny Hills HS, notched an 8-4 record in dual match singles play and joined Coast teammate Nikki Thornburg to go 12-2 in dual match doubles play.
But it was during the CCCAA championships where Dickson really left her mark in the long-standing history of OCC women's tennis.
Dickson and Thornberg -- one of two No. 2 seeds entering last year's tournament -- did not disappoint, cruising to straight-set wins through their early matches. They topped Kaya James and Apurua Sharma in the Round of 64 (6-0, 6-3), Dora Do and Gurwant Khabra in the Round of 32 (6-1, 6-0), Jaelia Conway and Marlayna Durant in the Round of 16 (6-3, 6-4) and CHelsea Corby and Suzanne Lin in the quarterfinals (6-3, 6-3).
In the state semifinals, the Pirate pair took on Sierra's Stephanie Ramos and Jacqueline Ward and in the opening set, they stunned the No. 1 seed with a 6-4 win. But, Ramos and Ward regrouped and evened the match with a 6-2 win in the second set, forcing a super tiebreaker. From there, Ramos and Ward advanced to the tourney title match with a 10-5 win.
Dickson had a busy weekend of tennis as she also advanced to the Round of 16 in singles play, thanks to wins over Sydney Hunt in the Round of 64 (6-2, 6-0) and Sarah Edwards in the Round of 32 (6-3, 6-2). Her singles run ended, however, with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Leticia Dos Santos.
In 2015, Dickson has continued her strong singles play through the early portion of the season, posting a 6-0, 6-0 win over Cuyamaca's Amy Nicholson and a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Palomar's Bettina Olah.
With new doubles partner Emily Nickles, Dickson notched an 8-0 win over Nicholson and Danica Voight of Cuyamaca and an 8-2 win over El Camino's Rose Sgolsutyatom and Serina Rowland.
While at Sunny Hills, Dickson was team captain for two years and MVP for her team as a senior. A four-time, all-league performer, Dickson was the Freeway League doubles champion on three different occasions.
After her Coast career is over, Dickson would like to pursue a career in astronomy after attending the University of Hawaii.