Photo by Steve Galluzzo
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
If the Palisades Charter High School girls tennis team hopes to capture its 30th City Section championship—and fourth in a row—this fall, it will require strong play in singles and doubles.
Right now, the Dolphins are a work in progress but it is where they stand at the end of the year that counts.
“Our team always has positive energy, and this year doesn’t feel any different,” senior co-captain Sophie Szeder said. “In singles you gave to really focus because it’s just you but doubles can be really fun too. I have a lot of faith in this team.”
Szeder will play at No. 1 or No. 2 singles depending on the availability of freshman and Southern California Junior Sectionals winner Shaya Jovanovic, who attended Paul Revere Charter Middle School in seventh grade and spent her eighth-grade year getting homeschooled while playing “up” an age division to test herself against older and more experienced opponents.
The City introduced the Open Division (top four teams) in 2017 and since then Palisades has won the crown four of five times, but longtime coach Bud Kling said he believes last year’s runner-up Granada Hills starts the season as the favorite.
“Their lineup is very strong, particularly in singles and at No. 1 doubles,” Kling said. “To be strong year in and year out requires continuity, loyalty and sticking with a program. We depend on those things to be successful.”
Rounding out the varsity singles are sophomores Anais Israels and Nicole Nguyen. Bolstering the doubles are co-captain Becca Rosenblatt and fellow senior Simone McClary; juniors Emma Yoffe, Sashi Gancheva, Dori Jamehdor; sophomores Ella Engel, Anne Klein, Ella Portugali and Erika Tontti; and freshmen Penelope Mihal and Ella Klein, the No. 1 and 2 players last year at Revere.
Palisades went 1-1-1 in its first three matches, blanking West Ranch 7-0, tying Marlborough and losing 7-0 to Westlake, a CIF Southern Section Open Division quarterfinalist last fall.
The Dolphins open Western League play Thursday, September 7, at LACES. Their non-league slate includes Beverly Hills and Mira Costa.
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