Plus, scores from around the first round in girls’ tennis
Following a second-place finish in the Foothill League that was highlighted with strong doubles play in the Foothill League prelims and finals, the Valencia Vikings carried the momentum and secured a Division 4 first-round win, 11-7, over the El Dorado Hawks on Wednesday.
“This was hard fought. [El Dorado] was a good team,” Valencia tennis coach Jeff Pollard said afterward. “Their singles were very strong, so we had to make it up on doubles and play really well, which we did, and we had a number of our doubles that were successful and won the match for us.”
In singles play, the Hawks secured the win across all three rounds, 7-2, with the lone wins from the Vikings being crucial, according to Pollard.
In the first round of singles play, Isabelle Just defeated El Dorado’s Emma Le, 6-3. And in the third round, Valencia’s Layla Shakir won, 6-3, over Le.
Both wins acted as insurance for Pollard and the Vikings if Valencia dropped a set in doubles play. And with the two extra points in singles play, it lets the doubles side play comfortably throughout the three rounds for the Vikings and Pollard.
“A doubles match in the end came down to a tie breaker, so had we lost that and without that singles match, it would have been tied … so we needed that,” Pollard said.
In doubles play, the Vikings swept El Dorado across all three rounds and went 9-0.
With the win, the Vikings advanced to the second round in the Division 4 playoffs and will look to hit the road for the team’s next matchup.
In the second round on Friday, the Vikings are set to play the Mission Viejo Diablos, who defeated their first-round opponent Poly Riverside, 15-3.
Friday’s second-round matchup between the Diablos and the Vikings is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Mission Viejo High School.
After Wednesday’s matches, here are scores from around the first round:
West Ranch 9, Huntington Beach 9 (77-75): Although West Ranch and Huntington Beach tied 9-9 following three rounds of play in Wednesday’s first-round Division 3 matchup, the Wildcats came out on top over the Oilers, 77-75, after the team tallied more points with the tiebreaker.
With the win, the Wildcats advanced to the second round and will play host to the winner between Valencia of Placentia and Santia of Corona.
The Wildcats play again in the second round on Friday at 2 p.m. at West Ranch High School.
JW North 15, Hart 3: After a fourth-place finish in the Foothill League, the Hart Hawks earned an automatic berth into the postseason and road matchup against the John W. North High Huskies of Riverside.
In the end, the Hawks fell in the first round to the Huskies and were eliminated from the Division 4 playoffs.
Golden Valley 9, Heritage 9 (88-69): Although Golden Valley and Heritage tied 9-9 following three rounds of play, the Grizzlies edged past the Patriots with 88 points scored in Wednesday’s first-round match.
With the win, the Grizzlies advanced to the second round of the Division 5 playoffs and will host the Buckley Griffins of Sherman Oaks, who won their first-round matchup against the Geffen Academy, 11-7.
Friday’s second-round matchup between the Grizzlies and the Griffins is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Golden Valley High School.
Castaic 14, Linfield Christian 4: For the first time in Castaic girls’ tennis history, the Coyotes are winners in the playoffs following a first-round road win over Linfield Christian in Division 7.
With the win, the Coyotes advanced to the second round of the Division 7 playoffs and are set to play host to the Alhambra Moors, who won their first-round matchup against Adelanto, 15-3.
Friday’s second-round matchup between the Coyotes and Moors is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Castaic High School.
Photos below from Valencia’s win on Wednesday:
