Santa Barbara’s Madison Hale reaches to put away a forehand volley as doubles partner Megan Grant watches.
Santa Barbara High’s girls tennis team had little trouble in its first round CIF match on Wednesday as the Dons eliminated visiting Palos Verdes 13-5 in the Division 1 playoff.
“It went really well,” said doubles player Karina Thornton. “In the Division 1 all the teams are good teams so this wasn’t an easy match but we played really well.”
The Dons won a CIF Championship last season in Division 2 before moving up a level. This year Santa Barbara enters the postseason tournament as the No. 7 seed.
Santa Barbara High’s Karina Thornton runs down a shot in Wednesday’s match with Palos Verdes.
The Channel League’s doubles champions, Megan Grant and Madison Hale, won three sets without a loss in Wednesday’s match. The Dons won seven of nine doubles sets with Palos Verdes’ Ali Mar and Lindsay Sunada capturing two points for the Sea Queens.
Palos Verdes, the Bay League’s third-place team, was not at full strength as four starters did not make the trip to Santa Barbara. The Dons took advantage, clinching the playoff win by the end of the second round.
“Santa Barbara has a really strong team,” said Sea Queens head coach Jeremy Meadows. “There wasn’t much we could do. Our girls played as hard as they could.”
The Dons will face either Santa Margarita or La Quinta in Friday’s second round.
SANTA BARBARA 13, PALOS VERDES 5
SB Singles: Summer Garrison 1-1; Mattea Kilstofte 2-0; Olivera Tadijin 3-0; Mali Brown 0-1; Hope Dalton 0-1
PV Singles: Riley Morgan 1-2; Daron Wong 1-2; Hannah Rees 1-2.
SB Doubles: Megan Grant/Madison Hale 3-0; Lisa Santry/Karina Thornton 2-1; Lexie Gulden/Kelli Martindale 2-0; Maddie Cuttler/Lauren Feuer 0-1.
PV Doubles: Ali Mar/Lindsay Sunada 2-1; Lauren Saunders/Kelley Hawke 0-3; Claire McBride/Soraya Safai 0-3.
