They need one of those buttons from the Staples commercials that exclaims “That was easy” when you press it.
As the top seed in Division II, the Santa Barbara High girls tennis team (13-1) knew that the first round was going to be a breeze. That was certainly the case on Wednesday on the Dons’ home courts, as plenty of the younger players got in to give the starters a break in a 14-4 win over Burbank.
“It’s pretty hard to get into a rhythm in a match like that, but I did like getting a break,” said senior captain April Ludwick, who is one half of one of the team’s top doubles teams along with Zoe Miller.
“We’re the top-seeded team, so I hope we can live up to that expectation.”
The Dons are not completely healthy at the moment. Aurora Garrison played her two sets through a toe injury, Ari Beckerman is having back issues and Stephanie Thornton is out for the season after dislocating her shoulder in a freak accident during warm-ups. Top singles-player Rachel Decker-Sadowski was out of town tending to a family matter, but should be back fro the third round, according to Ludwick.
Handling a mismatch is not foreign territory for the Dons.
“You get things done in practice,” said head coach Steve Geremia. “We were out here an hour early practicing each other. Playing each other is the best practice we can get.”
The twin doubles tandem of Thalia and Ariana Hudson was particularly strong on Thursday. The sister swept through their sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.
The Dons play at Cate against Sierra-League champion Diamond Bar on Saturday at 2 p.m.
SANTA BARBARA 14, BURBANK 4
Singles—SB: Hranicky-Galitzer 1-0, Mjelde 2-0, Broida 2-1, Beckerman 1-0, Garrison 1-1. Doubles—SB: Grokenberger-McKeown 1-0, Baum-Langhorne 1-1, Ludwick-Miller 2-0, Toner-Fox 0-1, Hudson-Hudson 3-0. SB Record — 13-1.
