Glendale girls’ tennis trips up Burroughs
GLENDALE — Having reached the halfway point in Pacific League competition, the Glendale High and Burroughs girls’ tennis teams are both still battling to qualify for CIF Southern Section playoff spots.
There’s plenty of time left for the Nitros and Indians to make the necessary adjustments in what’s expected to be a dogfight down the stretch for a handful of league squads eyeing playoff berths.
Glendale and Burroughs met Tuesday in the first of two straight matches against each other.
Glendale gained the upper hand, as it won eight of nine singles sets to post a 15-3 home win against Burroughs.
Glendale (7-4, 3-3 in league) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first round and extended the lead to 11-1 through two rounds to topple Burroughs (3-5, 2-4).
The teams battled for fourth place in the final match of the regular season in 2017. Glendale won the match to earn the last available playoff spot out of the league before winning the CIF Southern Section Division IV championship, the first in program history.
“This was definitely a very big win for our team today,” said Glendale coach Tom Gossard, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year. “We knew Burroughs could play and they had its match against Burbank come down to games won, so we knew we had to be ready.
“I liked the way we came out in the first round, but we knew Burroughs has the type of team that doesn’t quit. You saw that with two sets that went to tiebreakers. Our girls didn’t quit. We are where we are supposed to be. Our goals in the second half of league are to beat Burroughs and Burbank.”
Glendale and Burroughs will meet again at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Burroughs.
Glendale received sweeps in singles from Celine Khachiki, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0, and Kristen Lee, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0. The Nitros also got two wins in singles from Farah Eskender, 6-4, 6-2.
“I thought we came out and played our best right away,” Lee said. “We weren’t sure what would happen after the first round, so we knew we couldn’t let up.
“A win like this definitely helps our confidence.”
Glendale received a sweep in doubles from Momo Guzman and Nicole Avakian, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4. The Nitros got two wins apiece in doubles from Kianna Gueco and Karen Enriquez, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), and Janet Louie and Anna Sarookhanian, 6-3, 6-1.
Burroughs got a win in singles from Sandy LeMay, 6-4. The Indians received a win in doubles from Phuong Nguyen and Irish Demesa, 7-6 (7-1). Also, the Burroughs doubles team of Vicky Shagrikyan and Ayana Coha won a set by default after a Glendale player fell ill with Glendale leading, 3-2.
“It’s kind of strange,” Burroughs coach Roy Bernhardt said. “I was kind of surprised by today’s results in that I thought it would be a lot closer and that wasn’t the case at all.
“Glendale lost to Burbank (10-8) and we lost to Burbank on games. Glendale has a tough lineup in singles. We have some things we need to work on in the second half of league in order to get back into it. With our second serves, we need to then attack instead of stay back and we have to stay tough throughout.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
