San Marcos' top singles player Caitlin Mannix follows through on a forehand on Saturday.
San Marcos got tangled up in another tight CIF girls tennis match on Saturday, this time coming out on the wrong end of a 10-8 decision to visiting Valencia of Placentia.
The Royals wrap up a successful season with a 16-5 record and their first playoff win in several years, an upset of No. 9 Beverly Hills on Thursday. San Marcos edged the Normans on games after a 9-9 tie. The Royals also counted two wins over Dos Pueblos as a highlight to their season.
San Marcos' Jordan Lund won two sets on the day, including a 7-5 win in the second round.
“Athletically, it’s probably been one of the best girls teams at San Marcos in a long time. So it’s really been a special year for us,” said Royals head coach Jarrod Bradley.
Bradley, who also coaches boys basketball and boys tennis, coached the girls team for the first time this year. Bradley said he’s sad to see his five seniors go but complimented Christine Pearson, Amy Ransohoff, Caitlin Mannix, Chloe Maassen, Hannah McDaniel for their performance on and off the court.
“We got through the first round of CIF which hasn’t happened since I’ve been here so that was really exciting,” said Pearson, a three-year varsity player. “We ended well so I’m really happy with how the season went.”
Valencia put San Marcos in a hole on Saturday by winning four of the first six sets played. The Royals and Tigers played evenly for the rest of the match which kept Valencia in front. Because of a clear games advantage, San Marcos would have had to win five of the last six sets to pull out the win.
Mannix kept the Royals in the match as the day’s most dominant player in singles, sweeping her three sets. San Marcos was able to claim 5-of-9 sets in singles.
But Valencia made up the difference in doubles, led by Felicia Hsu and Amelia Yates. The duo went 3-0 by scores of 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
Parisa Fallahi and Liz Morris had the only winning day in doubles for San Marcos, winning two of three sets.
VALENCIA 10, SAN MARCOS 8
SM Singles – Caitlin Mannix 3-0, Jordan Lund 2-1, Jenna Levine 0-1, Stephanie Manson-Hing 0-2. V Singles – P. Uppal 1-2, M. Uppal 2-1, G. Szczeblowski 1-2.
SM Doubles – Christine Pearson/Amy Ransohoff 1-2, Parisa Fallahi/ Liz Morris 2-1, Chloe Maassen/Hannah McDaniel 0-3. V Doubles – Hsu/Yates 3-0, Ishisaka/Totoiu 2-1, Kim/Nam 1-2.
