Taft Tennis Team Overmatched by Palisades in Girls’ City Final

Palisades High continued its dominance in girls’ tennis by winning its seventh consecutive City Section 4-A Division championship Tuesday with a 6-1 victory over Taft at The Racquet Centre in Studio City.

Palisades cruised behind straight-set singles victories by Torrey Miller, Karen Manson, Sirsa Shekim and Birdie Gessford, all of whom are ranked among the top five in the City.

“It’s like having the second-best hand in poker,” Taft Coach Marvin Jones said of Palisades’ obvious advantage. “If you’re going against a powerhouse hand in poker and you have the second-best hand, you’re not going to win.

“I’m not disappointed because everybody played hard and didn’t give up. That’s all I ask of the girls.”

Palisades, which did not lose a set against Chatsworth and Grant in the quarterfinals and semifinals, looked as if it also was going to sweep Taft.

But Stephanie Fontaine and Pam Klosterman, the No. 2-ranked doubles team in the City, provided Taft with its only point by defeating top-ranked Yael Allswang and Karly Lemen, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.

“We knew we had to win this match,” Klosterman said, “because if we didn’t, we knew we wouldn’t have a chance to win City in individuals.” The individual championships begin Thursday at The Racquet Centre.

Fontaine said the pair would not dwell on the victory.

“The way we think about it, we lost the match,” she said. “We don’t want to get overconfident. We want to go in there playing just as strong as we did today.”

In singles matches, Miller defeated Jennifer Nussbaum, 6-0, 6-3; Manson defeated Alison Luskin, 6-0, 6-3; Shekim defeated Lydia Mendoza, 6-0, 6-2; and Gessford defeated Diana Hartman, 6-1, 6-1.

Courtney Lennard and Alice Bou defeated Nicole Nathan and Kimberly Shapiro, 6-2, 6-1, and Kija Kummer and Elena Lupu defeated Stefanie Berk and Carrie Greenberg, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0, in doubles matches.

“We knew Taft was capable of playing well and I think, for the most part, they did,” Palisades Coach Bud Kling said. “We didn’t have any weak spots this year.”