La Cañada girls’ tennis puts up better fight in loss to San Marino
In some ways, the final result was exactly what was expected between the La Cañada High and San Marino girls’ tennis teams.
In another respect, the host Spartans had reasons not to mope too much after a 14-4 win by the Titans on Tuesday afternoon that clinched San Marino another league crown.
“Hey, we did a lot better against them this time than we did last time,” Spartans Coach Will Moravec said. “We’ve improved; San Marino is just an excellent team and they make us play for every point.”
The Spartans (7-4, 5-2) last faced the Titans (10-2, 7-0) in San Marino on Oct. 1 and were handed a 17-1 defeat.
Fast forward nearly three weeks and the Spartans were certainly more competitive, winning three sets in singles action and taking a point in doubles play.
To no surprise, senior Cassie McKenzie led the way by going 2-1 with 6-3 and 6-1 wins over Madaleine Gandawidjaja and Sabrina Lieu, respectively, along with a 6-1 setback to Titans ace Devon Jack.
It was McKenzie’s first action versus San Marino after missing the Oct. 1 match.
“For me, I don’t think I really brought my best today,” McKenzie said. “I think that’s the hardest thing for me — it’s been a struggle. That first set wasn’t as competitive as I wanted it to be.”
La Cañada’s other victory on the singles side came from freshman and younger sister Sophie McKenzie, who defeated Lieu, 6-2.
The set of the day may have come from Sophie McKenzie and Gandawidjaja, which was won by San Marino’s No. 2 player, 7-6.
Sophie McKenzie had leads of 5-4 and 6-5 before Gandawidjaja rallied late and pulled off the comeback.
“I wanted to get more than a point,” said Sophie McKenzie, who secured her team’s lone point in the first match against San Marino. “It’s things that I did. I’m just missing a lot and it’s frustrating to keep the ball in.”
Jack was the only player to go undefeated on the singles side, as she was 2-0 and was subbed out before the final set.
On the doubles side, the Spartans avoided a two-match, 18-point sweep when the duo of 5-foot-2 Elizabeth Lee and substitute 6-foot Shannon Settles notched a 6-0 victory over a pair of Titans’ reserves.
“This is the fourth time we played San Marino, us two,” Settles said while pointing to herself and Lee, “and it feels so good to finally, finally get a win.”
Lee added: “We just had to keep our focus.”
San Marino settled for finishing 8-1 on the doubles side, led by its top pair of Sophia Lee and Maddi Schmidt, who went 3-0.
Up next, La Cañada hosts Pasadena Poly (6-5) on Thursday before closing out the regular season Monday at home versus Temple City.
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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com
Twitter: @campadresports