Dons doubles player Madison Hale won three sets with two different partners. (Presidio Sports Photos)
Santa Barbara's Mattea Kilstofte returns a backhand on Thursday.
Santa Barbara High’s girls tennis team looked the part of a No. 1 seed on Thursday, defeating visiting Villa Park 17-1 in the first round of the Division II playoffs.
The top-ranked Dons swept all nine doubles sets and only dropped one set in singles to Villa Park’s top player, freshman Rachel Kim.
“We don’t want to be too cocky about it,” said Dons sophomore Megan Grant of the top seed. “We still have to play our best tennis. It’s not an automatic way to the finals. We still have to earn everything.”
Newly crowned Channel League doubles champions Madison Hale and Grant cruised through their two sets.
“We played well. Yea, we had a slow start but we picked it up so it was good,” Grant said.
Megan Grant, pictured, and partner Madison Hale are this year's Channel League doubles champions.
It was a good day for the Garrison sisters, as senior Aroura and freshman Summer claimed six points for the Dons in singles. Santa Barbara’s starting doubles teams all won two sets before giving way to replacements in the third round.
In all, fifteen Dons saw court time.
The next round is scheduled for Saturday, although the threat of rain could postpone the match until Monday. In that scenario, Santa Barbara could play up to three playoff matches next week. Santa Barbara is at home in the next round, whenever it is played, against Claremont.
SANTA BARBARA 17, VILLA PARK 1
SB Singles – M. Kilstofte 1-1, A. Garrison 3-0, S. Garrison 3-0, A. Guilden 1-0. VP Singles – Rachel Kim 1-2, A. Kim 0-3, E. Lee 0-3.
SB Doubles – M. Grant/M. Hale 2-0, M. Hale/Maddie Cutler 1-0, K. Thornton/L. Sandry 2-0, T. Mjelde/M. Alvara 2-0, Alvara/K. Martindale 1-0, L. Feuer/H. DeBoer 1-0. VP Doubles – K. Pearson/H. Honma 0-3, M. Bak/L. Velez 0-3, E. Johnson/K Estrada 0-3.
