Queens of the Court

Madeline Prins & Lizzie Belokonnyi Repeat as City Doubles Champs; Caroline Vincent Wins Singles Crown

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Moments after the final point of last Wednesday’s City Section Individual doubles final, Madeline Prins and Lizzie Belokonnyi high-fived and plopped down on a courtside bench to soak in their last high school tennis match – a triumphant end to an odyssey that began almost exactly one year before.

The Palisades High seniors had won their first championship against a tandem from Granada Hills and were the favorites to repeat, only this time their finals opponents were all too familiar.

“Playing teammates in the finals… not a good idea,” a relieved Prins said after she and her partner prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a tense and at times contentious battle against the Dolphins’ duo of Morgan Swan and Abby Schleichkorn at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. “At 2-all in the second set they still had that confidence and we told each other we’re not going to let the feud get to us.”

The top seeds responded like champions, winning 10 of the last 14 games and breaking Swan’s serve to close out their second straight Individual title and lay the last jewel in Palisades’ rare triple crown.

“We were losing but we’ve been playing together a lot longer than they have and our mental strength pulled us through,” Belokonnyi said. “We went for more shots and decided if we’re going to go down, go down blazing.”

The first set Wednesday was the only one that Prins and Belokonnyi dropped in five tournament matches and although they anticipated facing two of their teammates in the final they didn’t know it would be Swan and Schleichkorn, who played mostly singles throughout the season and were seeded sixth in the 32-team Individual draw.

In the semifinals the previous day, Swan and Schleichkorn rallied to upset freshman twins Ireland and Sophia Amato, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, in another Pali vs. Pali matchup. The Amatos, seeded No. 2, rebounded with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Alyssa Carillo and Suchunya Bumrung of Van Nuys in Wednesday’s third-place match.

“I prefer to play teams I don’t know, but I’m happy we got to the semis,” Ireland Amato said. “Yesterday’s match came down to a few points and we let certain things affect how we played.”

“Today we felt less pressure,” sister Sophia added. “We used more strategy and tried some new things out on them. I tried to poach a little more at the net.”

The singles final pitted Pali High sophomore Caroline Vincent against junior Calypso Peraticos.

Vincent, seeded No. 2, stepped up her game midway through the first set and kept the momentum throughout a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

“Of course, I’d rather play someone from another school but I love seeing all Pali girls left,” Vincent said. “Today I wanted to go for big serves and finish the points quicker.”

It was a fulfilling end to a frustrating fall for Vincent, who was determined to persevere despite a painful foot injury that kept her out of the lineup for much of the season and almost forced her to withdraw the night before the tournament.

“I couldn’t get into Individuals last year so I was very excited to play this time and I was crushed when my foot was still hurting,” said Vincent, who became Palisades’ first City singles champion since Katy Nikolova in 2007. “I called Coach [Bud Kling] and told him I didn’t think I could play but he begged me to just get through the first round and I’m so happy I stayed in it. The first two rounds were rough but I got two laser treatments before the semifinals and it felt so much better.”

“I’ve never had to be competitive with her and we even played doubles together so I wasn’t sure how to act, but I knew the first few games were vital,” said Peraticos, who helped Palisades win the team title in November. “As the match went on she wasn’t willing to get in a rally with me.”

When top-seeded Rena Lin of Granada Hills dropped out of the event, Peraticos took full advantage and cruised through her half of the draw without losing a set.

“When I heard [Lin] pulled out I got a kick of adrenaline,” Peraticos admitted. “If anyone lucked out it was me – 100 percent.”

Vincent, meanwhile, had to contend with third-seeded freshman Caroline Goldberg in the semifinals and the Dolphins traded groundstrokes for two scintillating sets before Vincent advanced, 7-5, 6-4.

“It was very competitive, we both wanted to win and it really could’ve gone either way,” said Goldberg, who came back to level the first set after trailing 5-2. “She was a little stronger in the end.”

Goldberg blanked Kennedy’s Ruth Johnson, 6-0, 6-0, Wednesday to take third place.

“Winning the team title was great but personally it’s a lot more satisfying winning Individuals,” Vincent said. “It gave me an opportunity to prove myself and it’s motivating to know I can go through that with my foot and still do well.”