Team Effort

Pali High Tennis Edges Granada Hills 15.5 to 14 at Balboa Sports Center in First City Girls Final to Use Round Robin Scoring   

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Watching  Granada Hills warm up for Thursday afternoon’s  City Open Division final, Palisades High girls tennis coach Bud Kling knew his team was in for a battle.

“They were better than I thought,” he said. “I knew one of their No. 1 doubles girls was good but I didn’t expect the other one to be as strong as she was. All of their singles players could hit the ball with pace, so I knew it would be very close either way. That’s how it turned out.”

For the first time ever, a round robin scoring system was used for the girls playoffs and every player in the lineup contributed at least one point to Palisades’ 15.5 to 14 triumph at Balboa Sports Center in Encino—the Dolphins’ record 29th section title since the sport became sanctioned by the CIF in 1973.

“The boys playoffs have been round robin for years now and I wasn’t sure what my girls would think of it but they seemed to like it,” Kling said.
“It definitely takes away any chance of stacking that could happen in the straight-up format because this way everyone plays everyone regardless of what position they are.”

Under the new rules, each team chooses for singles players and three doubles teams. Each singles player plays one set versus each of the other team’s singles players. Likewise, each doubles pairing plays a set against each of the opponents’ three tandems (no-ad scoring). Singles sets are worth one point while doubles sets are worth 1.5 points. With 29 total points available, the first team to 15 points is the winner.

“I wasn’t sure I’d like it at first but if you lose your first set this gives you a chance to come back and still get points for your team,” Pali High senior Jade Finestone said. “In the head-to-head style you play two out of three sets so you have more time to play your way back into a match if you start slow, whereas here it’s one-and-done with no deuces so if you fall behind it’s tougher. On the other hand, you get to play more sets and players with different styles this way, meaning that if you don’t match up well with the No. 1 player it only costs you one set—you still have three more. In the head-to-head format there were only seven matches (four singles, three doubles), so each of them was crucial to the outcome.”

Finestone, unable to play most of the season while undergoing physical therapy for an injured shoulder, played No. 3 doubles in Palisades’ 24 to 4.5 semifinal victory over No. 4 El Camino Real and played No. 1 singles in the final, dropping her first two sets before rebounding to win the last two, 6-1, 6-0.

“Before I was kind of hating on the round robin but after playing two matches I see it gives you room for error, which the old style didn’t do,” said Finestone, who notched her team’s title-clinching point with a 6-0 win against Granada Hills’ No. 4 girl Zarah Djomeh. “I wanted to win today so badly because this is my last year and I was real nervous beforehand. When I lost to their top two players I thought that we were going to lose because of me but I stayed positive and played hard in the last two. I didn’t know I got the winning point until my teammates came running onto the court. It was hard being hurt all year but it’s all worth it now.”

If an MVP award was handed out it would have gone to another senior, Anaya Ayanbadejo, who lost only one game in four sets at No. 2 singles. She got the Dolphins off on the right foot with a 6-1 victory over her counterpart Breanna Nguyen, then blanked No. 3 player Leah Lazaryan and Djomeh before using a variety of spins and kick serves to throw  Highlanders’ No. 1 player Sayuri Patandian off her game and winning easily, 6-0.

“Jade’s been out all season… this was only her second match back, so I wanted to prove I deserved to be playing No. 1,” Ayanbadejo said.  “I knew I’d be playing four sets, which is more than we’re used to, so I played more aggressive and tried to finish the points quicker. I thought I was done with tennis, but I have to admit this year was pretty fun so I may keep playing.”

The top-seeded Dolphins beat  Granada Hills for the third straight time to claim their fifth title in six tries since the four-team Open Division was added in 2017.

Palisades’ No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams were made up freshmen, but none of them buckled under the pressure. After losing their first set, the top duo of Nicole Nguyen and Anne Kelly fought off a set point to prevail 7-5 versus the Highlanders’ No. 2 tandem and it proved to be the difference in the scoring. If they had lost, second-seeded Granada Hills might have been the winner by 1.5 points instead of the Dolphins. Kelly and Nyguyen took their last set, 6-1.

“I was crying after we lost the first set and Nicole gave me the best pep talk,” Kelly said. “One time the other team thought they’d won a point and their parents started cheering but I reached out and got it and they couldn’t believe it. Nicole and I balance each other out so well. We were facing break point and she said ‘It’s fine, we got this. Just get your first serve in and we’ll win. I did and we won that point, then we won the game on the next point.”

“Someone said we’re tied and we  realized we needed to win  that set,” Nguyen added. “We complement each other well because I’m better on the ad side with my backhand and she’s better on the deuce side.”

Fellow ninth-graders Anais Israels and Ella Engel won two sets and the No. 3 pair of juniors Becca Rosenblatt and Simone McClary  got an important 6-0 victory over the Highlanders’ No. 3 duo of  Amelia Fragoso and Ella Kim.

Georgia Brown and Priscilla Grinner swept three sets at No. 1 doubles and Parandian and Breanna Nguyen each took three of four singles sets, but it was not quite enough for the Highlanders, who were taking on Palisades in the finals for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Palisades beat Granada Hills 5-2 under the conventional best-of-seven format last fall.

The schools have combined to win the last 21 City upper division titles. Granada Hills last won in 2019.      

“We enjoy playing Palisades in the finals because we know it’s going to be a great match,” Granada Hills Coach Troy Aiken said. “We expect to see them here each year.”   

Yulia Klokova, who was out of action most of the year with a badly sprained ankle, returned for the playoffs and won her last set at No. 3 singles, 6-2. With the outcome already decided, Palisades’ No. 4 player Sophie Szeder lost in a tiebreaker 7-6 to Lazaryan but blanked Djomeh and pushed Parandian all the way before falling 6-4.

“It’s difficult to predict what would’ve happened if Nicole and Anne hadn’t pulled that out against their No. 2 team, but I believe someone else would’ve come through to get us the point we needed, said Kling, who won his 50th City crown  (29 with the boys, 21 with the girls)  at Palisades since taking over the boys program in 1979 and the girls in 1985. “I teach my players how to play different styles so they can adapt to whatever game the opponent throws at them.” 

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