Jimmy Carter was in office the last time the Santa Barbara High girls tennis team wasn’t Channel League champion.
Led by a surprise 3-0 performance from Taryn Mjelde, the Dons (11-3, 6-0) clinched at least a share of their 30th straight league title on Tuesday in a 12-6 win over San Marcos.
Mjelde defeated San Marcos (9-4, 4-2) standout Caitlin Mannix, whom she had never beaten before, in the opening match of the day and never looked back. Haley Hranicky-Galitzer and Grace Flintermann went 2-0 in singles play, and twins Ariana and Talia Hudson were 2-0 in doubles.
Coach Steve Geremia expressed relief that another title has been wrapped up.
“All of our seniors were handed this albatross to hang around their neck by last year’s seniors, and nobody wants to be known as the ones who lost,” he said. “I can tell you right now, San Marcos is good enough to beat us. They didn’t today, but they have two very strong doubles teams and two very strong singles players.”
The Dons need to either win tomorrow at Dos Pueblos or next week at home against Ventura to win the outright championship.
SANTA BARBARA 12, SAN MARCOS 6
Singles — SB: Taryn Mjelde 3-0, Haley Hranicky-Galitzer 2-0, Hailey DeBoer 0-1, Grace Flinterman 2-0, Stephanie Conliffe 0-1. SM: Caitlin Mannix 1-2, Jordan Lund 1-2, Stephanie Manson-Hing 0-3.
Doubles — SB: Ariana Hudson/Talia Hudson 2-0, Kelli Martindale/Lauren Feuer 1-0, Lisa Santry/Stephanie Thornton 1-2, Karina Thornton-Meagan Grant 1-2. SM: Christine Pearson/Amy Ransohoff 2-1, Parisa Fallahi/Liz Morris 2-1, Chloe Maassen/Hannah McDaniel 0-3.
