The Santa Barbara girls tennis team experienced a surprising result at the Manhattan Beach Country Club on Thursday, but it wasn’t a loss for the powerhouse Dons. Instead, Mira Costa and Santa Barbara’s non-league match ended in a tie after the two team battled to a 9-9 deadlock in sets and a 68-68 draw in games.
Under normal CIF rules, the teams would play a series of individual tiebreakers to determine the winner, but the Manhattan Beach Country Club needed the court space and couldn’t allow the match to be extended. The Dons are now 1-0-1 on the season.
“You thought they’d just won the Super Bowl,” quipped Dons coach Steve Geremia for the way the Mustangs celebrated the outcome against the mighty Dons. “We’re fine with it. We had some really sound performances.”
Hanna Grokenberger and Aurora Garrison teamed up to get Santa Barbara’s only three-set sweep. Rachel Decker-Sadowski and Ariel Beckerman collected two set each for the Dons on the singles side.
Beckerman lost her final set to Mira Costa’s Morgan Manaffe, who went undefeated on the day, but she made a late comeback that gave Santa Barbara the extra games it needed to salvage a tie.
“We certainly know what we have to go out and improve on,” said Geremia, who admitted Thursday’s result could still be considered an upset.
The Dons have four matches scheduled next week, starting with San Marcos on Tuesday and then top-tier teams Beverly Hills and University, so there will be plenty of opportunities to improve.
SANTA BARBARA 9, MIRA COSTA 9 (Games 68-68)
SB Singles: Rachel Decker-Sadowski 2-1, Ariel Beckerman 2-1, Grace Flintermann 1-2. SB Dubs: Lizzy Langhorne/Stephanie Thornton 0-1, Haley Hranicky-Gallitzer/Stephanie Thornton 0-2, Hanna Grokenberger/Aurora Garrison 3-0, Talia Hudson/Arianna Hudson 1-1, Taryn Mjelde/A. Hudson 0-1.
