Flintridge Prep girls’ tennis tops Flintridge Sacred Heart for first victory
GLENDALE — Entering Wednesday’s nonleague match against Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, the Flintridge Prep girls’ tennis team had played in just two prior contests.
It’s allowed the Rebels, who are coming off their most successful season in program history, additional time to work on fundamentals in hope of picking up their first victory.
Flintridge Prep turned to its three doubles teams to get it on the right track, winning eight doubles sets to register a 13-5 nonleague victory over Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy at Scholl Canyon Tennis Center.
“We’ve been working on a lot of things and trying to become more cohesive,” said Flintridge Prep first-year coach Art Cano, who took over for Morisa Yang, the 2016 All-Area Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year who piloted the Rebels to the CIF Southern Section Division IV semifinals a season ago. “We’re just trying to become more balanced and I want them to have the idea they can win.
“We’ve only played two matches against Alhambra and Monrovia, so we’ve had the practice time where we can implement some strategies like being more consistent going for points and trying to grind away.”
Flintridge Prep (1-2) got three wins apiece in doubles from Nikki Glover and Jayasri Krishnakumar (6-3, 6-0, 6-0) and Audrey Ouh and Genevieve Harvey (6-2, 6-2, 6-1) and two from Lauren Cho and Briana Tran (6-2, 6-0).
The Rebels got two wins in singles from Crystal Juan (6-0, 6-1) and Tianna Lopez (6-0, 6-2) and one from Maya Khurana (6-4). Juan, a reigning All-Area selection who advanced to the second round of the CIF Individual Tournament last season, only played two sets, as did Khurana.
Flintridge Sacred Heart (0-5) features six freshmen, including singles player George Wilder. Wilder proved to be the bright spot for the Tologs, winning all three of her sets. Wilder posted 6-4, 6-0, 7-6(7-2) victories to aid the Tologs.
Flintridge Sacred Heart also got a win in singles from Joelle Souma (6-0) and a doubles victory from Charlotte Collins and Claire McDonald (6-3).
“We’re trying to find ways to get better and I’ve seen some things,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart coach Ron Zambrano, a former All-Area Girls’ coach of the Year who led the Tologs to Sunshine League championships in 2014 and 2015. “We just have to keep practicing and keying in on the fundamentals.
“Sometimes it can be hard to teach a strategy, so it’s all about going through the repetitions and being ready for the next match. We do have a pretty young team, but they are getting better. Georgia played well, so it’s something she can build off going ahead. We just want to keep building up and getting more experience.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
