CV back in full swing
SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Three matches into the season, it’s been feast or famine for the Crescenta Valley High girls’ tennis team.
The Falcons dominated Pacific League foe Glendale on Thursday, 17-1, their second blowout win by the same score this week, only two days after stumbling in a 14-4 home loss to reigning league champion Arcadia.
But, despite the poor showing against their top rival, the Falcons still harbor aspirations as a league title contender and bounced back nicely to get their first league win of the season against an overmatched, youthful Nitros squad.
“I’m happy with it. I still would like to see a little more aggressive play,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Sarah Wiggins, whose team opened the season Monday with a one-sided nonleague win over La Salle. “I still saw a lot of nerves out there, a lot of safe shots instead of driving the ball and practicing some doubles play. But how disappointed can I be with a 17-1 victory?”
It was a clean sweep in singles for Crescenta Valley (2-2, 1-1 in league), as No. 1 Karen Ataian lost just one game in two sets and No. 2 Emily Borkowski was just as dominant, dropping just two games in her three-set sweep.
Sydney Farzadkish and Jackie Dilanchyan swept, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, in the No. 2 doubles bracket and No. 3 singles Christine Gharapetian posted 6-4 and 6-0 wins.
There were some closer sets, though, as when Crescenta Valley’s No. 1 doubles Viktoriya Shumakova and Amanda Lockwood went down to the wire with Glendale’s Rochelle Lingat and CC McLean before pulling out a 7-6 (9-7) win. Likewise in singles play, Falcons sub Selin Auvzarian went to a tiebreaker with Arpy Zargarian before winning, 7-6 (7-2), in the final set of the afternoon.
“There were some tight matches, some really close ones, and the girls were able to pull it out, so that’s good that they didn’t fade away on those,” said Wiggins, who also got a 6-1 win from Shumakova and Lockwood and a 6-2 win from Sally Jo and Alice Nam. “That’s a step forward and we want to keep going in that direction.”
Falcons Sarah Oh and Sarah Yaghoubi subbed in late for a 6-4 doubles win, as did Alexa Gregorian and Amanda De Leon, 6-2. Sub Michelle Choi added a 6-1 win.
Glendale’s lone win came from Lingat and McLean, who defeated Jo and Nam, 6-4.
“CV’s solid; I don’t think there’s any doubt that they’re clearly the second-best team in our league,” said Nitros Coach Bob Davidson, whose team fell to 0-3 and 0-2 in league. “Their No. 1 and No. 2 singles are solid and their No. 2 doubles team is very good. We were basically a little bit overmatched today. I was a little bit disappointed. I don’t think we competed very well, but we’ve got to give all the credit to them. They just basically came in and dominated us today.”