Tennis Powers Trade Victories, Titles
• Peninsula and Palos Verdes top girls tennis players battle for team and individual titles.
Palos Verdes High girls varsity tennis team unseated Peninsula High last week to win Bay League for the first time in nine years.
The victory caps a record year for the team following first-ever wins at the California Classic at Stanford and the Point Loma Tennis Invitational.
The next step for he team is at CIF, playing Corona Del Mar High in the first round of the tournament. PV is currently ranked fifth in the first division, with Peninsula ranked right behind at sixth.
Palos Verdes had won the previous meeting with Peninsula, but Peninsula’s number 1 player, sophomore Kimmi Hance, was at an international tournament at the time, so nobody knew what the outcome of this Bay League determining match would be.
The day started out strong for Palos Verdes with a surprise upset of Peninsula’s Hance by Palos Verdes’ number 1 singles player, sophomore Katelyn Hart.
It was high quality tennis, but Katelyn’s big serve and all-court game won her the match, 7-6. Ever the professional, Kimmi congratulated Katelyn on a good game, then went on to win her other singles matches 6-1, 6-0. Katelyn won her other two matches, 6-0, 6-0. PV’s number 2 singles sophomore Parker Fry won 2 of her 3 matches, 6-0, 6-0 and sophomores Rachel Post and Ripley Uyeda each won once in number 3 singles.
Freshman Asha Timm lost to Hance in number 3 singles.
“It was such a high quality match with amazing gets and a back and forth score, and we were playing with good friends,” said Hung
While PV was expected to win singles overall, the doubles was where Peninsula had beaten them, 6-3, previously.
As a result, coach Kip Brady strategically split up his previously undefeated number 1 doubles partnership of captain Madisen Olsen and freshman Cara Hung to try to capture more wins.
The gambit paid off. Olsen and sophomore Caroline Tenney secured one win in number 1 doubles, junior Chloe Blakey and freshman Hung swept 3-0 in number 2 doubles and junior Mari Shigekawa and sophomore Mia Dellovade took one win in number 3 doubles.
It was a full team effort for Palos Verdes to win the day, 12-6, and take back the title from their South Bay rival Peninsula.
— email reports
