St. Francis tennis rolls past Flintridge Prep

GLENDALE — Through the first three matches of the season, the St. Francis High tennis team appears to have its singles lineup set.

The Golden Knights are in the process of trying to find the right combinations in doubles to help take some of the pressure of the singles players.

In a nonleague match against Flintridge Prep on Tuesday at Scholl Canyon Tennis Center, everything was working as St. Francis posted eight doubles wins to record a 17-1 home victory.

“I definitely think we are solid across the board in singles,” said St. Francis Coach Ron Zambrano, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year after guiding Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy to a Sunshine League championship and an appearance in the second round of the playoffs last fall. “We’re still working on some things in doubles and we think its going to be a key factor throughout the season because we want to get to the playoffs.

“We’re confident we can get six wins in singles almost all of the time. We just want to find out who works best together in doubles and have them get going.”

St. Francis (1-2) opened the season with a nonleague defeat against La Cañada before falling in its Mission League opener against Harvard-Westlake. On Tuesday, St. Francis received three singles wins apiece from Greg Alle (6-3, 6-0, 6-1) and Mostafa El-Harazi (6-4, 6-0, 6-2). Jack Freer won a pair of singles sets (6-2, 6-2). Nick Sarkissian replaced Freer and notched a 6-2 victory.

“When you lose a lot of seniors, like we did, you know it’s going to be hard to replace them,” El-Harazi said. “We think we have a very talented team and we are confident that the doubles teams will play well for us.

“We just have to keep working hard at practice. I think you could see some good things happen.”

In doubles, the Golden Knights got three wins from Hudson Fega and Giancarlo Ciulla (6-3, 6-3, 6-2). They also got a pair of wins from Robert Boardman and Aaron Carter (6-2, 6-1). Shahan Derbedrosian and Sam Hood of St. Francis recorded a 6-1 victory. Derbedrosian and Shant Baghramian teamed up for a 7-5 victory.

Flintridge Prep (1-2) got a 6-1 doubles victory from Josh Choi and Wylie Kasai. The Rebels competed without singles players Cartier Juan and Sean Panajotovic, both whom were ill. Juan earned All-Area recognition last season after finishing 36-4 and reaching the second round of the CIF Individual Tournament.

Flintridge Prep Coach Hratchia Sargsyan said the Rebels are building throughout parts of their lineup.

“We’re seeing the character of the players and they are trying hard,” Sargsyan said. “You learn a lot from a match like this one.

“We’re just trying to build some more confidence and chemistry throughout doubles.”