Glendale High girls’ tennis no match for Foothill in playoffs

During the final weeks of the regular season, the Glendale High girls’ tennis team showed some signs of improvement.

It gave veteran Glendale Coach Bob Davidson reason for optimism heading into the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. Davidson didn’t count on the Nitros to struggle as much as they did Tuesday during a wild-card road match against Foothill.

“We didn’t put up much of a fight and I felt like it was as poor as we’ve played all year,” Davidson said after Glendale suffered a 17-1 road defeat to Foothill. “I don’t know the reason why we played so poorly, but it’s disappointing.

“We were flat right from the start. We didn’t even lose any close sets, like 6-4 or 7-5. I’m kind of surprised because we had played a lot better toward the end of the season.”

Glendale finished 7-9 after going 6-6 in the Pacific League for fourth place. Foothill, which finished third in the Century League, improved to 15-5 and will meet Yorba Linda in a first-round match at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Glendale received a 6-2 win from singles player Rouzana Hakobyan in the third round.

“We just couldn’t seem to get anything going,” Davidson said.

The Nitros will return the bulk of their team next season, losing Amanda Lieu and Mary Pailevanian.

Among those expected to return are singles players Veronika Galstyan, Kellie Gong and Hakobyan, along with the doubles tandem of Dani Fabian and Imani Story.

“Hopefully, this will be a good lesson for those coming back next year,” Davidson said. “They’ll understand what can happen when you are not ready to play.

“We are not good enough to get by when we are not playing our best.”