Mattea Kilstofte, top, and Madison Hale of Santa Barbara High.
Santa Barbara High’s Mattea Kilstofte and Madison Hale reached the doubles final of the CIF-Southern Section individual tennis tournament and pushed top-seeded Risa Nakagawa-Sara Khattab of Peninsula to a third set before falling, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, on Monday at the Seal Beach Tennis Center.
Kilstofte-Hale are the first Dons doubles team to reach the final since Sarita Yardi and Callie Grokenberger in 1997.
“Mattea and Madison” — nicknamed “M&M” by their teammates — came ever so close to winning the final,” Dons coach Greg Tebbe said. “They won the first set 6-4 and at 4-4 in the second set they lost two marathon games to lose the set. The third set was a long battle, but at 3-3 their opponents just played outstanding tennis to pull away and win 6-3.”
In the semifinals, Kilstofte-Hale defeated the La Cañada sister duo of Ally McKenzie and Cassie McKenzie, 6-4, 6-3.
“Mattea and Madison had an outstanding tournament and represented SBHS with pride and class,” Tebbe said. “It was a fitting end to our season as they played high quality tennis and fought until the very last point.”
In the singles final, Peninsula’s Ena Shibahara defeated Summer Dvorak of Laguna Beach, 6-2, 6-2. Shibahara is the top-ranked junior player in the state and is No. 3 in the country.
In the semifinals, Dvorak, the cousin of Presidio Sports owner John Dvorak, outlasted Ryan Peus of Peninsula in a three-hour match, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Peus is the cousin of Santa Barbara High quarterback Brent Peus.
