The top-ranked Santa Barbara High girls tennis team got off to a strong start on Tuesday and got to put a lot of different players on the court in a close 10-8 cross-town win against San Marcos.
“We were glad we had a lot of success with people who started the match and were able to bring in six other players, who did a lot of good things for us,” said coach Steve Geremia.
Ariel Beckerman and Aurora Garrison each went 2-0 for the Dons (2-0-1), while young freshman Caitlin Rodnick was 1-1. For the Royals, Caitlin Mannix was impressive in a 2-1 performance while Nicolette Leslie won her only set.
Amy Kinsella and Shelby Zylstra went 2-0 in doubles for the Royals, as did Hanna Grokenberger/Kinzie McKeown and Stephanie Thornton/Haley Hranicky-Galitzer for the visiting Dons.
Santa Barbara singles star Rachel Decker-Sadowski had the day off, but almost went in when things got close.
“It was tight, and we were ready to pull the trigger and put her in if we needed to,” said Geremia, who praised the Royals’ competitiveness.
Santa Barbara hosts a highly ranked Beverly Hills squad tomorrow, while the Royals play a Channel League match at Buena on Thursday.
SANTA BARBARA 10, SAN MARCOS 8
Singles — SB: Ariel Beckerman 2-0, Lizzy Langhorne 0-1, Aurora Garrison 2-0, Caitlin Rodnick 1-1, Taryn Mjelde 0-1. SM: Caitlin Mannix 2-1, Chloe Maassen 0-3, Kiki Katsev 0-2, Nicolette Leslie 1-0.
Doubles — SB: Hanna Grokenberger-Kinzie McKeown 2-0, Stephanie Thornton-Haley Hranicky-Galitzer 2-0, Talia Hudson- Ariana Hudson 1-1, Laurie Spatz-Stephanie Conliffe 0-1, Sasha Paskal-Aubrey Macker 0-1, Brianna Friden-Madison Severy 0-1. SM: Amy Kinsella-Shelby Zylstra 2-1, Christine Pearson-Amy Ransohoff 1-2, Sallati-Liz Morris 1-2.
