Dons continue dominance

Erik Boal

TUJUNGA -- The Verdugo Hills High girls’ tennis team won all three of

its doubles sets in less than an hour Monday against Grant High.

But it took almost another 60 minutes before it captured a fourth, and

deciding set, which provided some anxious moments for Coach Dick Smith.

However, No. 4 singles player Stella Garibian held off Jennifer Yan,

8-7 (7-4), and five minutes later No. 2 singles entry Eunice Cho won her

set, 8-5, which kept the Dons undefeated record intact with a 5-2 Sunset

Six League victory at Verdugo Hills High.

“That was a tough one today,” said Smith, whose team defeated the

Lancers, 4-3, on Oct. 3. “Grant definitely has the best singles players

in the league. Most of them are tournament players and they’re all

excellent.

As good as Grant’s four singles players were, the Dons three doubles

teams were that much better, as they dropped a combined four games in

winning their pro sets.

The No. 1 tandem of Helen Luu and Amy Pham and the No. 2 pair of

cousins Leesa and Polly Mac both won, 8-0. Smith’s No. 3 duo of Susan Mac

and Linda Pham defeated Natasha Del Cid and Natalia Sandoval, 8-4.

The three teams have combined to post a 33-0 set record for Verdugo

Hills (11-0, 8-0 in league). Grant dropped to 5-6, 4-4 in league.

“They’re all happy to be here and that makes a big difference,” Smith

said. “They come and work their tails off for four hours a day and

they’re all 4.0 students. Plus, they get real close to each other and

that helps them in tough situations.”

The Dons’ No. 1 and 3 singles players, freshman Roxy Ionescu and

junior Christina Adam, each held 6-5 leads in their sets, but the

Lancers’ Shayna Fox and Shogik Martirosyan rallied to take the final

three games and Grant’s only two sets.

Despite splitting the four singles sets, Smith is pleased with the

recent efforts of his players, which has Verdugo Hills in line to win its

third straight Sunset Six League title and fifth overall. The Dons won

Northern League championships in 1996 and 1997.

“Early in the season our weakness was singles, but now it’s all coming

together,” Smith said. “We lose a lot of seniors this year, so my desire

was to really improve our singles and now we’re getting there.”