Beverly Hills Finally Wins Title

Top-seeded Beverly Hills withstood a scare from second-seeded Fullerton Troy and held on to win its first Southern Section girls’ tennis title in 25 years, 12-6, Monday in the Division II final at the Claremont Club.

Beverly Hills (24-2) and Troy (21-3) were tied, 6-6, after two rounds, but the Normans swept six sets in the last round.

Beverly Hills’ No. 1 singles player, Iris Ichim, and the No. 3 doubles team of Beth Eisenstein and Nicole Lieberman keyed the victory.

Ichim, a freshman, swept her sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

Palos Verdes Peninsula 13, Dana Hills 5--The Panthers (28-1) won their ninth Division I title in 10 years and for the second consecutive year, junior Colby Comstock was the Panthers’ giant killer. Comstock defeated Dana Hills’ best player Kady Pooler, 7-6 (7-4), to give the top-seeded Panthers a 4-2 first-round lead and all the momentum they needed.

Palm Desert 12, Newport Harbor 6--Robyn Baker and Jennifer Joy swept singles sets in the Division III final as the top-seeded Aztecs (24-0) won their first title since 1997.

Corona del Mar 13, Calabasas 5--Anne Yelsey and Brittany Reitz surrendered only one game apiece in sweeping three sets each for top-seeded Corona del Mar (21-2) in the Division IV final.

Laguna Beach 10, Marlborough 8--The top-seeded Artists (16-6) rallied from a 4-2 deficit after the first round to win the Division V championship, their third consecutive title and sixth in nine years.

Marlborough (17-2) was making its first appearance in a final since the school opened 112 years ago.