Girls’ tennis stars capped off a competitive season at the Foothill League finals on Wednesday.
Ta’leighah Saulter brought the singles crown back to West Ranch while Saugus doubles team Kelsie Lammens-Ross and Madelyn Knapp earned the doubles title.
Saulter defeated Golden Valley freshman Kaelyn Azarraga in the finals, 6-2, 6-0. Azarraga aimed to slow down the game and Saulter’s pace with high moonshots that reached the end line but Saulter refused to stall.
“That was (Azarraga’s) tactic to try and beat Ta’leighah by hitting these high moon-balls,” said West Ranch coach Paul Orzsag. “But Ta’leighah figured out how to respond right away, and she took care of the match … They did use (the tactic) to some success, but ultimately it didn’t carry to a win.”
Saulter finished the tournament with six 6-0 set wins. The West Ranch sophomore reached the finals after defeating Valencia freshman Keira Rand in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-2.
For Saugus, Lammens-Ross and Knapp entered the tournament as the top seed, which came as a bit of a surprise to the duo who have only played together since the second half of league play.
“We didn’t know if we would be seeded before we got to the courts on the day for prelims because we didn’t play enough sets together during the season,” Knapp said. “Finding out we were seeded No. 1 was very exciting. Before finding that out, I was very confident that if we could keep our minds strong, we had a good chance at winning the title.”
The Centurion pair tore through the early going of the tournament with smooth wins against league opponents they knew well, until the semifinals. Saugus’ star doubles team met with Valencia’s No. 2 doubles team of Nitya Kotha and Jean Kim in the semis, where the Centurion duo took their first loss. Lammens-Ross and Knapp locked back in and played a tremendous second set to force a tiebreaker.
Saugus prevailed in the do-or-die set and won the semifinals frame, 3-6, 6-0, 10-7, spoiling Valencia’s shot at revenge after the Centurion duo upset the Vikings in the regular season, also via tiebreaker.
For Lammens-Ross, it was yet another long battle in the league semis but the senior finally broke through for her first finals appearance and title. She gave a ton of credit to her partner.
“Maddy’s dedication was a huge driving factor for us winning,” Lammens-Ross said. “I get pretty frustrated on the court and the team we were facing was insanely good. Her words of encouragement really helped me focus and lead us to win.”
The Saugus doubles squad were pushed yet again in the finals by a tough West Ranch duo of Suprita Yeole and Arabella Alberto. The Centurions fought in long hard games but took the finals match, 6-4, 6-4.
“Playing the West Ranch girls was entirely different,” Knapp said. “Suprita and Bella are absolutely amazing at the net, which threw Kelsie and I off big time. We had to take a couple of games to get used to how they played because on most points they played double up, which is normally avoided by most players. Our biggest challenge was not allowing the West Ranch girls to finish a point on a volley.”
Despite their on-court chemistry, the doubles champions haven’t been playing together for all that long. Saugus coach Bailey Sindle tried both of her stars in singles earlier in the year before placing the duo together for the second round of league play.
“I think what makes them work so well is just their energy and competitiveness,” Sindle said. “Sometimes when you have two super competitive players, they clash. Maddy and Kelsie did the opposite. They thrived off of each other’s fighting spirit and had the same level of intensity when playing. More importantly, they just always had fun. They were able to balance their seriousness with joy and I would always see them laughing, smiling, and just enjoying their time together.”
Yeole and Alberto were a surprise to many in the tournament. The West Ranch pair were a low seed and drew the No. 2 seed in the tournament in Valencia’s Izzy Bronstein and Jiya Sanghani in the opening round.
“My doubles one and doubles two went out fairly early,” Orzsag said. “Then my No. 3 came out like gangbusters. They’re a very young team. Although they did lose in the final, it was a very close match, and they could have won just as easily as they could have lost. And because of their good performance, they qualified for CIF individual … For a younger team to accomplish that, I thought that was very impressive.”
The Wildcats were pushed to a tiebreaker set but prevailed, a high-pressure situation the duo quickly got accustomed to. Yeole and Alberto went to three straight tiebreaker sets en route to the finals. West Ranch defeated teams from Golden Valley and Saugus before reaching the championship match.
Sindle was so close to an all-Saugus doubles championship match but was proud of her doubles team of juniors Annie Suwannakom and Zoe Farrell.
“Annie and Zoe are sensational,” Sindle said. “Those two all season have done nothing but fight. They ended up as the second best team, record wise, in the league and that alone is an accomplishment in itself. An all-Saugus final would have been great, but I am more proud that Annie and Zoe did everything they could during the tournament. They communicated well, went for their shots, and just got outplayed on that given day … They are some of the most fiery and dangerous players in this valley and I am excited to see what they do.”
Back in singles, Azarraga reached the finals with strong play including four 6-0 set wins. The Golden Valley freshman defeated West Ranch’s Kaylie Chung in the semifinals 6-1, 6-0 to reach her rematch with Saulter.
Chung had a solid tournament and rebounded in the bronze medal match with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Valencia freshman Keira Rand.
Azarraga defeated West Ranch’s Kaylie Chung 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semifinals and also picked up three 6-0 set wins en route to the championship match.
Chung bested Rand in the bronze match, 6-2, 6-4, to snag the final first-team all-league spot.
Both Saugus doubles teams will advance into the CIF individual playoffs while the team just missed the cut for an at-large berth.
Bittersweet as it might be, Lammens-Ross is excited to see what heights her and Knapp can reach in November.
“I am feeling very good about the postseason. I am very excited to play in CIF,” Lammens-Ross said. “The team is very excited for us and we will continue to train well, making amazing memories.”
For the qualifying teams, West Ranch and Valencia hit the road for their Wednesday Division 3 playoff openers while Hart and Golden Valley will clash for a third round as the team are slated to open the Division 5 playoff bracket up against one another.
Valencia will head to Etiwanda while West Ranch travels to Temecula to battle with Linfield Christian. Orzsag is confident his team will continue its strong play and take this momentum into the postseason.
“It certainly is going to help moving forward into CIF,” Orzsag said. “I think what it does is it establishes a belief that they can do this. We’ll urge them to believe that they can do this.”
