Granada Hills’ Victory Plants Seed

It would have been easy for the Granada Hills High girls’ tennis team to get complacent in its regular-season finale against Chatsworth on Tuesday, but Coach Ron Wood made sure his players knew they had some unfinished business.

The Highlanders had already clinched their second consecutive Northwest Valley Conference title, but needed the 7-1 victory it got at Chatsworth to finish the regular season undefeated and put itself in position for a good seeding in the City Section playoffs.

Last season, the Highlanders finished with a loss to Taft, the lone blemish on a 9-1 conference record. Wood blamed that loss for dropping his team from a second seeding in the City Section playoffs to a fourth.

“We’ve lost in the semifinal two years in a row,” Wood said. “I told the girls we needed to win for a better draw. I think we have a valid argument to be seeded second now. We have to be top three otherwise something’s crazy.”

The Highlander doubles teams, which have lost just two sets all season, were stellar again.

Granada Hills (13-0, 10-0 in conference) won all three doubles sets, while losing just two games.

Karyl-Lyn Sanderson and Julie Kang, the Highlanders’ No. 1 team, had no trouble defeating Lindsey Kops and Asally Adib, usually the Nos. 2 and 3 singles players for the Chancellors, 7-6 (6-4).

“This is a good way to top off your senior year,” Sanderson said. “It’s always fun to be on top. Now we’re looking forward to the City final--and make sure you say final.”

For Chatsworth, not even the roses handed out to all of the senior players by Coach Jim Araujo could brighten the Chancellors’ day--let alone their season.

“This season’s been a disappointment,” Araujo said. “We’ve lost a lot of close matches in the toughest conference in the City.”

The Chancellors’ lone highlight was a 8-1 victory by sophomore Jamie Macias at No. 1 singles.

Macias, a City Section individual semifinalist as a freshman last season, is 11-2 after an 8-1 victory over Michelle Heiser.

“She brings us a point every time we play,” Araujo said of his No. 1 player. “I’d like to see her make it to the [individual] final.”

Reina Kobayashi, Karen Fung and Stacy Takayama won singles sets for Granada Hills. Takayama, playing singles for the first time this season, scored an 8-1 victory over Debbie Bitton.

Granada Hills opens the City playoffs Nov. 14. The pairings have not been determined, but at least one player is not worried about the first round opponent.

“It doesn’t matter in the [first round],” Sanderson said. “We’re going to trample them anyway.”