La Cañada tennis has tough playoff match with Rowland

After finishing second in the competitive Rio Hondo League, the members of the La Cañada High girls’ tennis team learned Monday who they will face in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.

It didn’t come as a surprise to La Cañada Coach Will Moravec that the Spartans received a tough first-round matchup.

“That’s the way it is,” said Moravec, whose team will travel to face Rowland at 2 p.m. Wednesday. “If you are not seeded in the top eight in the drawing, then you know anything can happen in terms of playing a team that won a league championship.”

That’s exactly what happened with the Spartans, who are 12-6 and went 6-2 to take second in the Rio Hondo league behind top-seeded, and defending-champion, San Marino. “It will be interesting to see how we match up [with Rowland].

“I don’t know all that much about them. We feel good about the way we’ve been playing, even though we had a tough loss in the league’s doubles final.”

Rowland is 15-2 and went 11-1 to capture the Hacienda League championship.

The winner will meet third-seeded Laguna Beach (17-4, 10-0 for first place in the Orange Coast League) or Fullerton (11-5, 6-4 for third in the Freeway League) or El Dorado (11-12, 6-6 for fourth in the Century League) in a second-round match at 2 p.m. Friday.

The Spartans come in with some momentum after receiving a boost in the league finals. Junior Ally McKenzie captured the league’s singles championship to become the program’s first player to win the championship since Kim Gilmour in 2001.