McKenzie sisters breeze through first day of CIF tennis tournament
La Cañada High senior girls’ tennis player Cassie McKenzie was no stranger to the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament.
Last season, she teamed up with elder sister Ally to form a formidable doubles team. The pair won the Rio Hondo League championship and advanced to the CIF tournament semifinals.
This season, Cassie has returned to the prestigious tournament, but this time, she’s the elder sister, teaming up with freshman sibling Sophie.
For the second year in a row, a McKenzie sisters duo was able to advance past the first day of the event. Seeded No. 1, Cassie and Sophie earned a bye in Monday’s event at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte, then proceeded to breeze through their next two sets to advance to the next round.
The CIF office will release pairings for the next round of the tournament Wednesday, with singles players and doubles teams scheduled to compete Dec. 1 at a site to be determined. The event at Whittier Narrows was just one of several tournaments throughout Southern California on Monday.
“They have made it to the round of 32, but when they release the pairings they could be in the round of 16,” La Cañada Coach Will Moravec said. “Being the No. 1-seeded doubles team, they will probably be in the round of 16 and there’s a good chance they’ll play at the Seal Beach Tennis Center. The CIF just has to gather all the results from the various tournaments and they will make the pairings.”
Moravec added being from the competitive Division I Rio Hondo League and winning the league championship likely led to the McKenzies being seeded No. 1.
Following the bye, the sisters took to the court for their first match against Quynh Tran and Vivian Nguyen of La Quinta. The Spartans played well from the outset, rolling to victory, 6-1, 6-0.
The McKenzies duo, which won this year’s league doubles crown Oct. 29, followed that win with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Sara Smith and McKenna Kirmsse of Alta Loma.
“Being in the tournament last year with Ally, I kind of knew what to expect and I knew what it was all about,” Cassie said. “But it was nice for Sophie to be able to experience it and see it all in person. It’s kind of neat to be able to make it two years in a row with both of my sisters.
Said Sophie: “This being my first time, I wasn’t really that nervous. I was there with my sister and that made it easier. ...We just went in confident and being the No. 1 team, the draw wasn’t that hard for us.”
That is likely to change in the next round.
“We know it’s going to get tougher, but we’ll be ready for it,” Cassie said.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports