La Cañada girls’ singles players advance to semifinals to face each other
ARCADIA — For a fourth straight year, at least one representative of the La Cañada High girls’ tennis team will qualify to the finals of the Rio Hondo League individual tournament championships.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that Wednesday afternoon’s two survivors out of the tournament’s first day of action – sophomore Sophie McKenzie and freshman Annabelle Kevakian – advanced to face each other in Thursday afternoon’s action back at Arcadia County Park.
The match is expected to get underway at 12:30 p.m.
“It’s not a surprise to me that they both advanced,” La Cañada Coach Will Moravec said. “San Marino and Temple City moved some singles players to doubles and so that opened up a possibility that this would happen. It’s great to get two players to advance.”
The last time two Spartans squared off on the second day, La Cañada junior Ally McKenzie (Sophie’s sister) defeated teammate Sawa Keymeulen, 6-0, 6-0 in the 2013 semifinals. Ally McKenzie eventually defeated Joy Huang for the Rio Hondo League title, while Keymeulen recovered and took third.
Whoever wins Thursday’s semifinal match will earn advancement to the finals against top-seeded Anessa Lee of San Marino or Temple City’s Allison Tam, about half an hour after the conclusion of the semifinal round.
McKenzie or Kevakian will vie to become La Cañada’s third league singles champion this century and join Kim Gilmour (2001) and Ally McKenzie.
Though the tournament was moved from the familiar, but deteriorating Live Oak Park in Temple City, the pavement of Arcadia proved familiar for Sophie McKenzie.
“This is one of the first places where I learned to play tennis,” Sophie McKenzie said. “I used to practice here when I was like 5 or 6, so it was like reminiscing coming back here, although the courts are much nicer and the bathrooms don’t smell as bad.”
Sophie McKenzie entered the tournament as a defending champion, albeit on the doubles side as she claimed in the league doubles title and eventual All-Area Doubles Team of the Year honors with graduated sister Cassie McKenzie.
Sophie McKenzie was seeded second, awarded a bye and defeated South Pasadena’s Ashley Huang in the second round, 8-1, to move to the semifinals.
Kevakian looked shaky early on, but overcame errors and defeated Temple City’s Eileen Lee, 8-6, in the first round.
Kevakian then set up the all-La Cañada semifinal when she defeated San Marino’s Kayla Chen, 8-3, in the second round.
“It was one of our best singles days in a while and I’m both proud and happy for Anna,” Moravec said. “I just wish we could have done better on the doubles side.”
Chen eliminated La Cañada’s final singles player Nicole Son, 8-0, in the first round.
While a McKenzie sister has advanced to the semifinal stage for a fourth consecutive year, a recent run of doubles dominance was not extended.
For the first time since 2012, a La Cañada duo will not be playing for a league title nor advancing to the second day. The Spartans had won the league’s doubles titles in 2014 and 2015, while Cassie McKenzie and Sharyse Watanabe finished third in 2013.
On Wednesday, the Spartans finished 1-3.
Only the pair of Grace Rickert and Sarah Settles picked up an opening-round victory, 8-6, over Temple City’s Doris Chen and Michelle Le.
Following that win, Rickert and Settles encountered the second-seeded squad of Libby Chang and Caitlyn Nguyen from San Marino.
The Titans’ twosome, singles players during the regular season, dispatched of Rickert and Settles, 8-2, to earn advancement to Thursday afternoon’s semifinals.
In other doubles action, La Cañada’s Ashley Chun and Erica Lee were bested by South Pasadena’s Rachel Park and Sheila Li, 8-2, in the first round. The La Cañada pair of Elise Wu and Maya Vasisht also fell to San Marino’s Dahlys Ang and Emily Hsaio, 8-0.
