Girls’ Tennis Preview: Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy aiming for back-to-back league titles

No longer concerned with having to end a league championship drought, the members of the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy tennis team are now focused on looking to stay atop the Sunshine League.

Flintridge Sacred Heart won the league title last season under coach Ron Zambrano, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year. The Tologs went 11-6 and won their first league crown since 1985. Flintridge Sacred Heart also won its first CIF Southern Section playoff match during Zambrano’s tenure, which began in 1996.

With seven seniors in the lineup, the Tologs are more experienced and look to be in good standing to win back-to-back league championships.

“I do think we have a great chance to win our league again,” Zambrano said. “We’ve talked about what it might be like to do that and they know what it takes to get there.

“We’re going to be up against some very good teams, not only in league but outside of league. There’s going to be some pressure being hunted, but I think we are looking real good. We’ll see how our players respond.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart will bring back its top doubles team of senior Holly MacVaugh and junior Margaux Blain to lead the charge. The duo captured the league doubles title and reached the second round of CIF Individual Tournament last season. MacVaugh and Blaine combined to go 35-2 en route to being named to the All-Area team.

The Tologs will also bring back senior Camille Katz and junior Kate Hodges to help fortify the lineup. Katz will see time in singles and doubles and Hodges will compete in singles.

Glendale will have a new look on and off the court. Veteran Coach Bob Davidson retired last spring after coaching the school’s boys’ and girls’ teams for nearly 20 seasons. John Tuttle, the school’s former football coach, will take over the coaching responsibilities.

Tuttle won’t have top singles player Natalie Shamma in the lineup after Tuttle said Shamma, a reigning All-Area pick, decided to be home schooled. Shamma reached the finals in the Pacific League Tournament before moving on to the second round of the CIF Individual Tournament last season.

“It’s a huge loss, but we’ll go with the people we have back,” Tuttle said. “I just want to keep running things the way Bob did and that’s smoothly.

“We want to be able to compete for a top-four [automatic] playoff spot out of league and we’ll try to get better as the season goes along.”

Glendale’s top singles player will be senior Nareh Nkrtchian. The Nitros, who went 10-4 and appeared in the Division II playoffs last season after tying for second in the Pacific League with Burbank, will return the doubles team of junior Kavitha Ambatipudi and sophomore Emi Guzman.

Hoover will also have a new coach. The Tornadoes saw longtime coach Julie Hoppe retire and filled the position by bringing aboard Yeprem Chavdarian, a former Hoover boys’ player.

The Tornadoes, who went 9-8 and qualified for the Division II playoffs in 2014, will have just two returners in the lineup: sophomore Jessica Chung and junior Natalie Kelechian. They are slated to be the No. 1 and 2 singles players, respectively, this season.

“It’s going to be a work in progress,” Chavdarian said. “I want to be here and try to make a difference by helping them become better people through athletics.

“I want to treat them as adults and with respect. It’s just about the players putting in the effort and trying to get better.”

Crescenta Valley finished 9-6 and took fifth in the Pacific League before participating in a Division II wild-card match under coach Sam Hyun. Hyun would like to see the Falcons make a climb in league in 2015.

They should have two formidable doubles teams in seniors Ashley An and Alexia Voskani and sophomores Rachel Shin and Michelle Jung. Crescenta Valley’s top singles player will likely be junior Marie Arutyunyan.

“We didn’t do well last season and we don’t want to have that happen again,” Hyun said. “We have to practice a lot harder if we want to get a top-three spot in our league. We’ll see how far we can go.”

Morisa Yang will be the new coach at Flintridge Prep, which will play its home matches at Arcadia Tennis Center after previously competing at Scholl Canyon Tennis Center.

Flintridge Prep, which went 3-13 in 2014 and finished fifth in the Prep League, will return several key singles players, including sophomore Crystal Juan and juniors Suzie Kim and Maddie Preiss. Juan enjoyed a superb first season, finishing 40-5, 26-4 in the Prep League en route to securing All-Area accolades.

While the Rebels appear set in singles, Yang will look to find some sufficient doubles players to help round out the team.

“We’re definitely happy with who we have in singles,” said Yang, a former player at the University of California. “We just want to now focus on finding consistent partners in doubles.

“They need to believe in themselves and they will start to see their potential.”