Granada Hills Zeros In on City Semifinals

Granada Hills High has claimed its customary place in the City Section City Championship girls’ tennis playoffs.

The Highlanders routed Eagle Rock, 7-0, Tuesday in a first-round match at Granada Hills and advanced to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season.

Second-seeded Granada Hills (14-0) will play Friday against third-seeded Fairfax, which defeated Cleveland, 4-3.

The No. 1 doubles team of Valerie Ramirez and Shannon Slotnick (13-1) overcame illness in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Olivia Layug and Jennifer Chao of Eagle Rock (11-1).

In other City Championship first-round matches:

Van Nuys 4, Carson 3--Joanne Joo and Marsha Kadza won the last two games in the second set at No. 2 doubles to clinch a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Nikki Sutphin and Kristine Garcia for the fourth-seeded Wolves (13-1) at Van Nuys.

Tinna Chung’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kay Lovano at No. 2 singles was the clinching point for Van Nuys.

In City Section Division Championship first-round matches:

San Fernando 4, Bell 3--The No. 1 doubles team of Elizabeth Cardenas and Claudia Perez rebounded after losing a first-set tiebreaker and blowing a 4-1 lead in the third set and the Tigers (9-5) claimed their first playoff victory in school history at El Cariso Park in San Fernando.

Cardenas and Perez defeated Rosie Lopez and Evelyn Ruedas, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4, in a 2 1/2-hour match.

San Fernando--which is making its first appearance in the playoffs--will play Grant in a semifinal Monday at Meridan’s Tennis L.A.

Grant 4, Hamilton 2--Nicole Brown lost only two games in her No. 3 singles match for the Lancers (10-1) to spark a first-round upset of the second-seeded Yankees at Hamilton.

The match was shortened because of darkness.

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Royal def. Righetti, 15-4, 15-5, 15-1--Teresa Russell had three blocks and a .667 hitting percentage with six kills and no errors in nine attempts for the Highlanders (26-4) in a Southern Section Division I-A first-round playoff victory at Royal.

Toni-Anne Merendino had six kills and 14 digs for Royal, and Courtney Guerra had 12 service points, eight kills and 12 digs.

Buena def. Beverly Hills, 15-4, 15-3, 15-9--Krystal McFarland had 10 kills and Janee Richards added 25 assists and four aces to help the Bulldogs (22-7) win a first-round match in the Division I-A playoffs at Buena.

Oxnard def. Palmdale, 15-11, 15-1,15-10--Sarah Morrison had six aces and a .750 hitting percentage with 10 kills and one error in 12 attempts for the Yellowjackets (15-4) in a Division I-AA first-round victory at Oxnard.

Jennifer Otani hit .571 with 16 kills and four errors in 21 attempts and had nine digs for Oxnard, which will face Arroyo Grande in the second round.

Crescenta Valley def. Eisenhower, 15-5, 15-5, 16-14--Tracy Jackson had 14 kills and five digs to help the Falcons (15-3) to their 13th consecutive victory in a first-round Division I-AA playoff match at Crescenta Valley.

Milken def. Armenian General Benevolent, 15-10, 15-12, 15-6--Alex Wald had five blocks to help the Wildcats (15-4) to their first Southern Section playoff victory in any sport in a Division V-AA first-round match at Milken.