Glendale tennis no match for Ayala in CIF
Prior to the season beginning, Glendale High girls’ tennis Coach Bob Davidson said he would have the most inexperienced team he’s had since taking over the program 17 years ago.
Being unproven, Davidson also said the Nitros might be in line to grab a playoff spot. He proved to be right.
Unfortunately for Glendale, its playoff run was short-lived as it suffered a 16-2 road loss against Ayala in a CIF Southern Section Division II wild-card match Tuesday afternoon.
“Our goal coming in was to just make the playoffs and we got that done,” said Davidson, whose team finished 7-9 after taking fourth in the Pacific League. “We are happy about that and what we were able to do.
“We had the least amount of experience since I’ve been here and we did what we could do with it.”
Ayala, which finished third in the Sierra League, improved to 17-9 and will meet top-seeded San Marino in a first-round road match at 2 p.m. today. San Marino (14-3) captured the Rio Hondo League championship.
Glendale got a 6-2 singles victory from Veronika Galstyan and a 6-3 doubles win from Danielle Fabian and Imani Story.
Otherwise, Davidson said, the Bulldogs consistently showcased their talent and depth throughout the match.
“They were just too strong in singles and they had a very good No. 1 doubles team,” Davidson said. “We knew going in that Ayala would be a tough matchup for us.
“I felt good about the way we competed against them. We did what we could do. I don’t think we had any rust [from not playing a match in nearly two weeks]. Our whole team basically played in the league tournament last week, plus we’ve been practicing a lot.”
