CV 14, South Pasadena 4

By Alan der OHANNESSIAN

Coming off a 13-5 loss to Burbank on Thursday when the Falcons saw an end to its three-game winning streak, CV tennis was looking to get back on track on Monday when facing South Pasadena, and did so by beating the Tigers 14-4.

It was a different attitude from only a few days earlier when CV came onto the court full of confidence enjoying a 7-2 overall record, losing only to Valencia and Arcadia, its nemesis. Last year, CV lost to El Dorado 12-6 in the second round of the CIF Southern section, 2nd Division. Hoping to build on last season’s success and go further into the playoffs, the Falcons were unprepared for the loss to the Bulldogs.

The defeat in the singles column against Burbank (9-0) spurred a change in the lineup by Coach Sam Hyun. Previous No. 1 singles player Alexa Gregorian was replaced by Natalie Davidian. Hyun also replaced Ashley An for Selin Auvazian.

“We’re still experimenting,” said the coach about the changes.

The new roster paid off when the Falcons beat the Tigers in the singles column.

Davidian got off to a slow start losing to the Tigers’ number one Symana Stans, 6-1. But she found her way back, battling Karinna Loo for a hard fought win, 7-5. In her third match, coach Hyun replaced her with Annie Park. She rewarded the coach for his faith and defeated Elyse Lim, 6-1.

An didn’t fare as well as her teammate.

She split her first two matches to Loo and Lin, 2-6 and 6-1 respectively. Melanie Voskanian replaced her for the third match, losing to Stans, 6-0.

Finally, Elizabeth Lim, a usual substitute, split her two matches before being replaced by Isabel Martos-Repath.

Lim beat Lin, 6-2 but was no match to South Pasadena’s No. 1 Stans. Stans kept up the attack on Lim’s forehand, dictating the tempo throughout the match. Despite the cheering of her teammates from the stands, Lim fell to Stans, 6-2.

Doubles player Martos-Repath defeated Loo, 6-2.

Overall, the Falcons took the singles by a narrow margin of 5-4.

CV won a healthy total of 55 games compared to the paltry eight wins against Burbank.

Though it was a scant victory for the Falcons in singles, South Pasadena was out of its league when it came to doubles. They lost all nine matches, winning just 10 games compared to 54 for the Falcons.

Viktoriya Shumakova and Sarah Yaghoubi, the No. 1 doubles team, lost only three games in their three matches combined. They beat Ann Le/ Jenifer Lu, Karen Hsueh/ Rebecca Bu, Katherine Shinho/ Jenifer Orr by the same dominant score, 6-1.

Angela Seo/ Sarah O, the number two doubles team, lost five games in their three matches overall. South Pasadena’s number one team of Le/ Wu put up the only fight, beating CV by a single break, 6-4. The other two teams posed no threat as the Falcons neatly beat them, 6-0 and 6-1.

However, it was the No. 3 team of Alexa Gregorian/Seline Auvazian, both single players, who made the biggest difference. They lost just two games in their three matches, definitely playing in perfect harmony.

On another positive note, Coach Hyun said that Jackie Dilanchyan, one of the Falcons best doubles players, will return from her ankle injury when facing Hoover High School today at CV at 3:30 p.m. She rolled her ankle previously.

  ALAN DER OHANNESSIAN