West Ranch’s Jordyn McBride named 2018 Foothill League girls tennis singles player of the year

West Ranch's Jordyn McBride returns a ball with a forehand hit against Northwood in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 tournament.
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Since joining the West Ranch girls tennis team in 2016, Jordyn McBride has helped lead the Wildcats to three straight Foothill League titles.

Following her most recent campaign in which she didn’t lose a single set during league play, McBride took home another prize: The 2018 All-Foothill League Girls Tennis Singles Player of the Year.

This marks the second year in a row McBride received the honor for the best singles player in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“After 60 matches-plus, she’s never lost a set and everyone is gunning for her,” said West Ranch head coach Dina McBride. “The pressure she’s under in having to come through every single time and bring it. It’s amazing how resilient she is and how tough she is as a competitor. She has lifted the program completely.”

McBride capped off her 2018 regular season with a dramatic win over Golden Valley’s Justine Dondonay in the finals of the Foothill League prelims.

With both players winning a set, McBride and Dondonay went point-for-point in a super tiebreaker, with the former coming out on top 10-8 to secure her second consecutive league crown.

“It’s really fun playing her because I think she brings out the best in my game,” Dondonay said of McBride after their finals match. “We have different games, but every time against each other it’s always tight and we don’t know who is going to win. She’s my friend too. I’m just really happy for her.”

Until her match against Dondonay, McBride hadn’t dropped a single game in the prelims, a theme for this past year.

In fact, McBride only lost a handful of games all season — five games combined in two sets against Dondonay and four games combined in two sets against Amanda Tabanera of Valencia.

Despite her success, McBride knows there are still aspects of her game she needs to work on to become the best version of herself on the courts.

“I’m constantly working on serving. Always. Serve placement and being quicker and more aggressive at the net,” Jordyn said. “I also need to work on my backhand slice.”

“I think with her, she’s always trying to get better. She’s never satisfied with her game,” Dina said of Jordyn. “There’s things in her game she knows she can get better at.”

McBride will have one more opportunity to showcase her skills this year at the CIF-Southern Section Individual Sectionals, which begin on Monday, Nov. 19 at Cate School in Carpinteria.

2018 All-Foothill League First Team Singles

Justine Dondonay, Golden Valley

Dondonay dropped only two games leading up to the championship round in prelims, where she finished as the runner-up to McBride after losing in the super tiebreaker. Dondonay played in several memorable sets, including a close 7-5 loss to McBride in a set that lasted close to an hour during a match between West Ranch and Golden Valley. As the league runner-up, Dondonay will join McBride in representing the Foothill League at the CIF-SS Individual Sectionals.

Amanda Tabanera, Valencia

Tabanera will make her fourth consecutive appearance at the CIF-SS Individual Sectionals this year, having previously competed in doubles in 2015 and 2017 and in singles in 2016, when she was the Foothill League singles champion. While Tabanera played singles for most of the year, she teamed up with Brenna Whelan at this year’s prelims. The duo defeated their Valencia teammates Taylor Cohen and Ashley Villarta to capture the league doubles title.

2018 All-Foothill League Second Team Singles

Chase Eisenberg, West Ranch

Brenna Whelan, Valencia

Shaira Busnawi, West Ranch

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