Santa Barbara High’s Madison Hale gave the Dons a much-needed boost in the first round.
Cade Sorensen and Lexy Gulden clinched the final set of Saturday’s showdown between Santa Barbara High and Corona del Mar to deliver the Dons a 10-8 victory in a matchup of the No. 4 and No. 5 teams in CIF-ss Division 1.
Santa Barbara stayed even with the Sea Queens in the first and second rounds thanks to a pair of 7-6 wins. In the first round, Madison Hale rallied from 5-1 down to win 7-6. In the second round, Summer Garrison was on the better end of a 7-6 decision.
Dons head coach Greg Tebbe credited Hale’s gutsy first-round win with providing a psychological edge going forward. It also preserved a undefeated day for Santa Barbara’s singles players as Mattea Kilstofte, Garrison and Hale won three sets each.
“Corona has three good singles players so it highlights how good our singles lineup is that we we’re able to sweep the singles. That is very difficult to do,” reported Dons head coach Greg Tebbe.
Sorensen and Gulden won their set 6-3.
Corona del Mar won an earlier match between the two schools in Fresno at the California Classic.
“I am very pleased with how our team competed today,” Tebbe said. “We fought for every single point in all three rounds. We are still early in our season but this is a great win for our program.”
Santa Barbara (5-0) returns to Channel League competition in its next match on Tuesday vs. Buena. Then on Wednesday the Dons host Peninsula, the No. 1 team in Division 1.
SANTA BARBARA 10, CORONA DEL MAR 8
Santa Barbara Scores:
Singles:
Mattea Kilstofte 3-0
Summer Garrison 3-0
Madison Hale 3-0
Doubles:
Cade Sorensen / Lexy Gulden 1-2
Marianna Alevra / Maddie Cuttler 0-3
Claire Casey / Carolina Turri 0-3
Corona Del Mar Scores:
Singles:
E. Chen 0-3
J. Dunk 0-3
D. Willson 0-3
Doubles:
Gear day / Shorf 3-0
Fogarty / Edalat 3-0
Anderson / Kenerson 2-1
