Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy tennis survives Glendale
Holly MacVaugh wasn’t aware of the score while involved in a close set.
The Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy singles tennis player found herself locked into a tight battle with Glendale High’s Veronika Galstyan and didn’t want her concentration broken.
PHOTOS: Glendale vs. FSHA tennis match
MacVaugh rallied to win her set and to give visiting Flintridge Sacred Heart a 10-8 nonleague win Wednesday afternoon.
“You can’t think about those things because then I get too nervous,” said MacVaugh, who topped Galstyan, Glendale’s No. 1 player, 7-5. “I’m usually not a singles player.
“I had to go out there and help the team out.”
MacVaugh began the season playing doubles before being shifted to singles Tuesday during a Mission League match against host Alemany. MacVaugh swept her three sets Wednesday, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1, to help the Tologs improve to 3-2. Glendale fell to 2-4.
The Tologs and Nitros were tied at 6 entering the third round before Flintridge Sacred Heart took charge. A 6-4 doubles win from Lana Sarkisian and Nicolette Harutunian gave the Tologs a 9-8 lead before MacVaugh clinched the victory.
Flintridge Sacred Heart Coach Ron Zambrano, who guided the Tologs to a playoff appearance last season, said the Tologs have been searching for additional character throughout the lineup.
“We want that extra snarl and be able to fight for what you can get,” said Zambrano, whose team finished third in league last season. “We were hoping to come out and fight, no matter the final result.
“We were able to achieve all of that and we go home happy. We are going to have some tough league matches, so when you play teams like Glendale, you get a great experience and it helps with your confidence.”
Flintridge Sacred Heart also got a 7-5 singles win from Camille Katz. It received a pair of doubles victories from Sarkissian and Harutunian (7-5, 6-4) and Bree Ryan and Katie Arial (6-4, 6-3) and one win from Julia Byrne and Margaux Blain (6-3).
Glendale, which placed fourth in the Pacific League before advancing to the playoffs last season, received two singles wins from Galstyan (7-5, 6-3) and Kellie Gong (6-3, 6-1) and one from Julie Darbinyan (7-5).
Glendale’s No. 2 doubles team of Imani Story and Dani Fabian swept (6-3, 6-2, 6-4).
Glendale Coach Bob Davidson said the difference proved to be the final two sets.
“This was a real good match for both teams,” Davidson said. “The difference was they won most of the close sets, including the last two, that could have gone either way.
“From our perspective, we let some big leads get away from us. We had a couple of 5-2 leads and we couldn’t put them away. That hurt us. We just couldn’t get over the hump. Their players were just better in the clutch.”
Glendale and Flintridge Sacred Heart will take part in league road matches Thursday. Glendale will meet Pasadena at 3:30 p.m. The Tologs will face Harvard-Westlake at 4 p.m. at L.A. Valley College.
