Singles dominance leads Burbank tennis past Hoover
BURBANK — Hoover High’s girls’ tennis team was saddled with the task Thursday afternoon of trying to derail a Burbank team that has been streaking in the opening weeks of the season.
The Bulldogs entered the contest undefeated and fresh off a convincing Pacific League victory against Crescenta Valley two days earlier.
Tornadoes Coach Yeprem Chavdarian stacked his doubles, conceding singles to a Burbank squad that has a dominant lineup.
It was a strong singles effort that led the way, but an almost equally formidable doubles effort for the Bulldogs, as their three singles players didn’t surrender a single game in earning a 16-2 Pacific League win at Burbank.
“We know that our singles are what’s going to carry us this season,” said Burbank Coach Loi Phan, whose singles trio also earned a sweep against the Falcons. “Two of our girls are returners from last season and we got a very good freshman in and she’s done well so far.
“We know that with the win against CV that we are in a good position to hopefully finish second in league this season. We know Arcadia is better than all the other teams and they won’t be beat, so we are playing for that second spot.”
Burbank (5-0, 2-0 in league) was in control throughout, sweeping the first round, 6-0.
“We knew that their singles were very good, so we stacked our doubles because our singles didn’t feel that confident going against them,” Chavdarian said. “We tried to stack the doubles because we were trying to get as many points in doubles that we could.
“This is the first time these doubles teams have played together, but I have every confidence that, as the season goes on, they will do a lot better as they play more together.”
The only two wins on the day for Hoover (1-2, 0-2) came from the No. 1 duo of Jessica Chung and Loris Denton , 6-0, 6-1.
It was a dominant and swift effort from Burbank’s singles corps, with No. 1 Nicole Merrit, No. 2 Kristina Kirakosyan and Alice Avedikian all sweeping their three sets by 6-0 scores.
“It’s very nice to know that we have three solid singles players, because if, let’s say one of us has a bad day, we can rely on the other two to make it up,” Avedikian said. “That’s a lot pressure off of us, because we have the players who can come through.
“We have been able to start the season pretty well so far and that’s like a big confidence booster for us. And winning against CV was a boost for us.”
In doubles, the Bulldogs’ No. 1 team of Johana Faraj and Elza Vardanyan swept, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, and the No. 2 tandem of Krystal Hirahara and Emilie Siraki took two, 6-2, 6-1, as did the team of Bella LaManna and Shushan Papoyan, 7-5, 6-4.
