GIRLS’ TENNIS / CITY SECTION INDIVIDUAL FINALS : Pastorini Finds the Drive to Overtake Taft Teammate

Brahna Pastorini will be driving in style after throttling past Taft High teammate Julia Feldman, 6-4, 6-1, in the City Section individual tennis singles final Wednesday afternoon at The Racquet Centre in Studio City.

A family friend told the top-seeded Pastorini he would give her a 1968 Mustang, if she won the City title. But after having her service broken in the opening game and falling behind, 3-1, in the first set, Pastorini looked as if she might be hitching a ride home.

“I was intimidated at first,” Pastorini, a junior, said. “I lost to Julia three months ago at sectionals and I was really nervous.”

Pastorini put her game in gear, however, with aggressive play from the baseline and roared by Feldman, winning 11 of the last 13 games.

“I can’t play cautious,” said Pastorini, who finished 21-0. “I have to play aggressive.”

Feldman was sharp at the outset but struggled with her serve and committed numerous unforced errors after taking the 3-1 lead. She double-faulted eight times, including four in one deuce game that enabled Pastorini to tie the first set, 3-3.

It was the first loss of the season for Feldman (20-1), a sophomore who played second singles to Pastorini throughout the season.

In the doubles final, top-seeded Torri Ellman and Melissa Cherin of Palisades beat second-seeded Astra Ramyead and Alicia Whelan of Taft for the second time in a month, 6-1, 6-3. Ellman and Cherin also had beaten the Taft pair in the City team championships, providing Palisades with its only win in a 6-1 loss.

Ellman had lost with Nancy Kwon to Taft’s Stephanie Fontaine and Carrie Greenberg last year, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9), 7-5, the team blowing several match points along the way. So this time, the Palisades duo took control at the start with aggressive net play.

“We were too defensive,” Ramyead said. “We were not aggressive enough.”

In third-place matches, sixth-seeded Amanda Cey of El Camino Real beat fifth-seeded Kwon, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, and the third-seeded team of Tammy Tam and Lynn Ta of Eagle Rock overwhelmed the fourth-seeded team, Chatsworth’s Loreli Lew and Maggie Danielle, 6-0, 6-2, in doubles.