For a Change, Taft Girls Favored Over Palisades in City Tennis Final

The roles will be reversed today when Taft High meets Palisades for the girls’ City Section 4-A tennis title at The Racquet Centre in Studio City. The match begins at 1 p.m.

Taft has advanced to the City final four consecutive years, only to lose to Palisades, the 13-time defending champion. This is the first time the top-seeded Toreadors (15-0) have been favored.

“There definitely has been a role reversal,” Palisades Coach Bud Kling said. “Taft’s team looks like mine have in the past.”

Taft, which swept Grant, 7-0, in Wednesday’s semifinals, comes into the final with the City’s first- and second-ranked singles players, junior Brahna Pastorini and sophomore Julia Feldman. Pastorini and Feldman each are 15-0, as is the Toreadors’ No. 3 singles player, junior Kimberly Shapiro.

The Toreadors also have the City’s No. 2-ranked doubles team in junior Astra Ramyead and sophomore Alicia Whelan, who are 14-1.

Palisades counters with Heather Zand and Nancy Kwon, the fourth- and fifth-ranked singles players in the City, and the top-ranked doubles team of Torri Ellman and Melissa Cherin.

The Dolphins (13-3) struggled to a 5-2 semifinal victory over Birmingham on Wednesday.