Chaminade Nails Down a Berth in Final, 10-8

Tense, anyone?

In a match that ended with a fingernail-gnawing tiebreaker in the deciding doubles set, Chaminade High defeated Calabasas, 10-8, in the Southern Section Division IV girls’ tennis semifinals Thursday at Calabasas.

With Chaminade holding a 9-8 edge, its No. 2 doubles team of Summer Valdes and Tina Kapadia fended off the Coyotes’ No. 3 team of Michelle Silver and Frayla Schoenfeld, 7-6 (7-5).

Valdes and Kapadia trailed, 6-5, and fought off two set points before forcing a tiebreaker.

Had Calabasas won the set, the teams would have tied, 9-9, and Calabasas would have won the match on games, 73-71.

“It was so tense,” said Kapadia, who credited a two-phrase mantra she kept thinking to herself. “Don’t forget who you are and it’s just a match.”

Chaminade Coach Andy Berenson did his best to keep the pressure off the Valdes-Kapadia duo, telling them that the team owned the tiebreaker regardless.

“Something told me he was lying,” Kapadia said.

Third-seeded Chaminade (14-6), which plays top-seeded San Marino in the championship Monday at the Claremont Club, had been 0-4 in matches decided by 10-8 scores.

Included on that list would be the Eagles’ season-opening, 10-8 loss to Calabasas, though both lineups were drastically different.

Berenson slid top singles player Teresa Galido to the No. 2 spot and Kapadia, who went 2-1 in singles play against Calabasas in September, has been playing doubles the last month.

Calabasas also had a different look, with most of its singles and doubles players having been mixed and matched since the early season victory.

The only constant for the second-seeded Coyotes (18-4), who have lost in the semifinals three consecutive years, was No. 1 singles player Shervin Saedinia.

Saedinia celebrated her 16th birthday by winning all three sets she played, including a 6-0 victory over No. 2 Galido.

The Coyotes couldn’t quite rebound from a 5-1 deficit after the first round.