Dana Hills Coach Juggles Lineup, Reaches Final

Dana Hills girls’ tennis Coach John Stephens took a small gamble and it paid off when his top-seeded Dolphins defeated Santa Maria Righetti, 12-6, in the Southern Section Division II semifinals Monday at Dana Hills.

Conceding six sets to Righetti’s strong singles group, Stephens juggled his lineup hoping to strengthen his doubles lineup. Margaux Peirog, his No. 2 singles player, and Brook Caltonplayed No. 1 double. Karlie Noyes moved from doubles to No. 3 singles.

“I didn’t feel like we would need to sweep,” Stephens said. “I thought if we could get seven and then sweep their No. 3 singles, we would get it.”

The outcome was beyond Stephens’ expectations. Dana Hills won all nine doubles sets, losing 11 games.

Pierog and Calton quickly put away their opponents, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. Kate Romm and Janae Wilson-Hayden won 6-2, 6-1, 6-0. In the final set of the day, Amy Tranckino and Christie Manning struggled against Carlie Stokes and Stefanie Groll, but rallied from a 4-3 deficit, to win, 6-4.

Stephens also got his expected sweep over Righetti’s No. 3 player Lindsey Schweigert. As predicted though, Righetti’s top two singles players swept their sets.

Summer Tanteefinished 4-6, 6-3, 0-6, Lauren Richardson went 0-6, 6-0, 1-6, and Noyes was 2-6, 6-0, 0-6.

Dana Hills (19-2), which appeared in the 1991 final, but hasn’t won a section title since 1989, faces unbeaten Palm Desert in the final at 9:30 a.m. at the Claremont Club.

Unseeded Palm Desert upset two county teams on its way to the final, beating second-seeded Villa Park in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Mater Dei in the semifinals.

“We’re going to try to find out more info about Palm Desert,” Stephens said. “I know their doubles are really strong. We won’t have this type of day in doubles. But we’ll just roll the dice and see what happens.”

In a Division IV match:

Rosary 10, West Hills Chaminade 8--Top-seeded Rosary (22-1) earned its first trip to a section final since 1991 with the help of its top two doubles teams, Cheryl Hamilton and Amanda Mroz and Michelle Hamilton and Lauren Eyrich, which swept their sets. Rosary’s top singles player Eleanor Luzano won two of three sets, including a 7-5 upset of Debbie Pepkowitz, a top junior player.