Falcons get back on winning track
LA CRESCENTA — Team meetings are not fun all the time, but the one the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls’ tennis team held recently was necessary.
During that get-together, the Falcons talked about getting back to playing smart and reestablishing pride in their game.
It appears that Crescenta Valley got the message.
Crescenta Valley got a sweep from its No. 2 doubles team of Ani Ebrahimian and Audri Pardo on a chilly Monday afternoon en route to a 12-6 nonleague home win against Marlborough.
Crescenta Valley (9-2) held a team meeting Friday after the Falcons suffered a 13-5 Pacific League loss to host Arcadia on Thursday. The Falcons, who have two league championships in a row, were never in sync against the talented Apaches.
A similar sluggish performance against Marlborough (4-3) would not work for the Falcons, something Ebrahimian made clear at the summit.
“We just didn’t play well against Arcadia,” said Ebrahimian, who worked with Pardo to pick up 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 victories. “We talked about how we needed to prove ourselves again, and what’s best for the team.
“We want to get that will to win again and walk around with pride.”
Crescenta Valley apparently got the message in full.
The Falcons’ No. 1 doubles team of Andrea Megerdichian and Hana Park also swept, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Junior singles player Erin LeVoir, the reigning league singles champion and All-Area Singles Player of the Year, won her two sets without yielding a game.
“I’m incredibly impressed with their energy level and competitiveness,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Tom Gossard, whose team’s only losses have come against Arcadia. “They came out to play and put out some great efforts.
“We knew that we had to be aggressive in doubles and force them into making mistakes and forcing them to adjust to what we are doing.”
The Falcons got one singles win apiece from Viktoriya Shumakova (6-0), Tamara Talverdian (6-3) and Carineh Ghafafian (7-5). Sydney Farzadkish and Sarah Wang paired up to earn a 6-4 doubles victory for Crescenta Valley.
Ebrahimian, a member of the school’s girls’ basketball team, said the Falcons can’t afford to relax.
“Everybody is going to have to be ready to play,” said Ebrahimian, whose team is in second place in league behind Arcadia with three weeks left in the regular season. “They have the potential and they need to use it.”
Crescenta Valley will next face visiting Glendale in a league match at 3:30 p.m. today. In the first match between Crescenta Valley and Glendale on Sept. 17 at Glendale, the Falcons beat the Nitros, 9-9 (81-75).
CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228 or charles.rich@latimes.com.
