A day after having some cracks in its armour exposed in a 14-4 loss to strong Campbell Hall side, the Santa Barbara High girls tennis team filled in a major gap with the return of Hanna Grokenberger and put together a 14-4 Channel League win over San Marcos on Thursday.
The Dons have rarely been at full strength this season, and Wednesday was no different without the services of two of their top players in Grokenberger and Rachel Decker-Sadowski.
San Marcos' Caitlin Mannix rips a forehand against the Dons
Santa Barbara's Aurora Garrison
But Grokenberger and Kinzie McKeown, aiming for a second-straight Channel League doubles championship, were back together against the Royals and swept their two sets at love, giving way in the third round to Emily Baum and Savanna Fox after the match had been clinched.
“It was great to have Hanna back and hopefully Rachel will be back soon too, so our team is coming together,” McKeown said of the Dons, ranked No. 2 in Div. II. “It’s just really exciting because it’s our senior year and we want to make the most of it.”
“That’s kind of what we’re looking at, is trying to get everyone back playing together well at the right time” said Santa Barbara head coach Steve Geremia, whose been busy using countless lineup combinations this season.
Grace Flintermann and Haley Hranicky-Galitzer teamed up at No. 2 doubles and swept three sets for the Dons 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. Sisters Ariana and Talia Hudson won two more sets for Santa Barbara but were unable to best San Marcos’ Amy Ransohoff and Christine Pearson, who took two sets on the day.
“Their doubles is super strong and I think they really focused on it this time around,” said Royals head coach Megan Cotich. “They didn’t let up, like maybe they did last time.”
The score was much closer the first time the two teams met on Sept. 22, with Santa Barbara pulling out a tight 10-8 decision over the Royals.
Caitlin Mannix won two more sets for San Marcos in singles, but fell to Ariel Beckerman, who continues to competently hold down the Dons’ No. 1 singles spot in Decker-Sadowski’s absence by winning her three sets 6-1, 6-0, 6-0.
Santa Barbara, 5-0 in the Channel League, takes on Dos Pueblos on Tuesday while San Marcos, 4-2 in league, takes on a non-conference foe in San Luis Obispo on Friday.
SANTA BARBARA 14, SAN MARCOS 4
SB Singles: A. Beckerman 3-0, T. Mjelde 2-1, A. Garrison 2-1. SM Singles: C. Mannix 2-1, C. Maasen 0-3,
SB Doubles: H. Grokenberger/K. McKeown 2-0, G. Flintermann/Hranicky-Galitzer 3-0, A. Hudson/T. Hudson 2-1, E. Baum/S. Fox 0-1. SM Doubles: S. Zylstra/A. Kinsella 0-2, C. Pearson/A. Ransohoff 2-1, P. Fallaji/
