The Palisades High girls tennis team has enjoyed great success in recent years at the Lightning Invitational in Newport Beach and that trend continued Sept. 27-28 as the Dolphins nearly swept the singles and doubles titles at Sage Hill High.
Players score points for their team in a round robin format and at the end of the two-day competition, Maria Kandinova found herself locked in a first-place duel against the No. 1 player from host Sage Hill. After dropping a marathon 11th game that went to seven deuces, Kandinova (a sophomore transfer from Village Christian) lost the pro set 8-4 to settle for second.
Photos by Steve Galluzzo
Meanwhile, three Pali High doubles duos advanced to the semifinals and in the championship match Anne Kelly paired with Nicole Nguyen to edge Dolphins teammates Anais Israels and Ella Engel, 8-6.
“Really good tennis!” assistant coach Rob Silvers said.
It was a repeat for Kelly and Nguyen, who captured the doubles crown as juniors last season when the Dolphins broke the tournament record by racking up a combined 236 points in singles and doubles.
On Sept. 20-21, the Dolphins traveled to San Diego for the Point Loma Invitational and placed 13th out of 16 schools, bouncing back from defeats to Canyon Crest and Peninsula to edge Los Osos (3-3, 7-6 in sets) and beat Redondo Union 5-1.
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