Carapetian Works Doubles Duty

Stephanie Carapetian makes a difference for her teamand fellow teens--yes teens.

For Campbell Hall’s girls’ tennis team, she has played No. 1 doubles with Emily Abrams. The seniors combined for a 48-2 record in sets for the Vikings this season and they won the Delphic League doubles title last week by beating Danielle Singer and Susan Kimble of Brentwood, 6-2, 6-4.

Off the court, Carapetian answers phones once a week for Teen Line, a help hotline for teenagers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

What started 2 1/2 years ago as an interesting way to fulfill a 50-hour community-service requirement for graduation from Campbell Hall turned into something so fulfilling the senior recently wrote about her hotline experience with one suicidal caller in an essay for a college admission application.

“I knew I would enjoy it and I just loved the idea of what it was there for,” Carapetian said of Teen Line.

“Most problems need to be talked about and teenagers don’t always talk about things. At first, I kind of thought it was going to be like a question and answer thing, but the first thing they teach you is, ‘Don’t give advice.’ You’re just there to listen.”

Lending an ear to the suicidal girl Carapetian wrote about in her college-entrance essay proved helpful to both sides, as far as Carapetian knows. Cases are worked anonymously, but the caller phoned the hotline later the same night to thank Carapetian for listening and lifting her spirits.

“It was kind of amazing,” Carapetian said. “It was really from my heart. I felt like I did a lot that night. She just was very depressed and that’s the way most of them are. She just needed someone to listen to her and help her through those feelings.”

Most cases are less weighty, with callers working through relationship problems.

“The goal is not to necessarily solve the problem, it’s to help them feel better,” Carapetian said.

“It definitely opens you up to what’s going on. I’ve grown so much and my awareness of everything that’s out there has increased so much because of this.”

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Brooke Borisoff stormed onto the Marmonte League scene last year, winning the league singles title as a freshman at Agoura High.

Just to prove the victory was no fluke, she staged a repeat.

Borisoff (55-0) knocked off freshman Nina Yaftali of Westlake, 6-2, 6-2, in the final match after beating senior Lyndsey Tadlock of Thousand Oaks High, 6-3, 6-0, last season.

“That was one of my goals,” Borisoff said of her title defense.

“I think I’ve improved from last year and I think I’ve shown it against players like that,” she said.

Borisoff and Alison Tyson (48-6), Agoura’s No. 2 player, helped the Chargers (12-8) into the second round of the Southern Section Division III playoffs, where they beat St. Lucy’s, 10-8, Friday at Citrus College.

“The best thing about Brooke is, she plays everyone the same,” said Coach Stuart Limbert of Agoura. “She doesn’t play easy. She hits every shot hard and people respect her for it. She just goes out there and gets the job done.”

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The Top 5

Rankings of girls’ tennis teams in the region

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Westlake (Marmonte) 2 2 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 3 3 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 4 4 Calabasas (Frontier) 5 5 Camarillo (Pacific View)

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