CITY SECTION GIRLS’ TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Palisades Pair Defeats Taft Duo to Win Title

Karen Manson and Birdie Gessford of Palisades High overcame an uncharacteristically slow start Tuesday to defeat Dawn Young and Pam Klosterman of Taft, 7-5, 6-2, in the City Section girls’ tennis doubles final at the Racquet Centre of Universal City.

Manson and Gessford, the Nos. 1 and 3 singles players on Palisades’ City championship team, were the top-seeded tandem in the tournament and did not lose a set. Neither had played in a City final before.

Victory did not come easily for them, however. Young and Klosterman, relying primarily on lobs and dink shots, took a 5-4 lead in the first set but lost three consecutive games.

“We were calm through the whole tournament,” said Manson, whose service was broken just three times in the tournament--twice Tuesday. “When we got to the finals, we just tensed up.”

Taft tied the score, 2-2, in the second set but was ultimately unable to handle Palisades’ power game.

“They played well all year and played well today,” Taft Coach Marvin Jones said of his team, which entered the final with a 17-0 record. “Today they just played a better team.”

While the Palisades pair was stoic, Young and Klosterman were relaxed, often bursting into laughter during the match.

Said Klosterman: “If we were going to be all down and serious, we were going to play that way too.”

Winnie Tan and Huong Thai of Van Nuys defeated Rebecca Perry and Jennifer Galvez, 6-4, 6-4, to place third.