close
close

Apre-salomemanzo

Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

    • Portola girls tennis dominates Santa Margarita to earn spot in CIF-SS Open Division final – Orange County Register
    aecifo

    Portola girls tennis dominates Santa Margarita to earn spot in CIF-SS Open Division final – Orange County Register

    Umito Posted on

    IRVINE — For the Portola and Santa Margarita girls tennis teams, reaching the semifinals of the CIF-SS Open Division was a first for both schools.

    The Bulldogs, seeded No. 2 in the Open Division, defeated the Eagles, seeded No. 3, 10-8 on Wednesday at Portola High, and now advance to an even higher plateau: a berth in the final CIF-SS.

    1 of 7

    The Portola High School girls’ tennis team dances on the court after defeating Santa Margarita Catholic High School in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Open Division Playoffs at Portola High School in Irvine on Wednesday November 13, 2024. Portola will advance to the final. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    Develop

    Portola (21-0) will face top-seeded Palos Verdes (22-0) for the Open Division championship at 5:15 p.m. Friday at the University of Redlands.

    The Sea Kings beat No. 4 Corona del Mar, 14-4, in the other semifinal Wednesday.

    Portola (19-1) led 7-5 heading into the third round, and once the Bulldogs won their ninth set, they clinched the victory, although the match would have ended in a 9-9 draw, said Bulldogs coach Natacia Schottland. said.

    “I knew if we could get to nine, we would win games,” said Schottland, who has been the Bulldogs’ only coach since the school opened nine years ago.

    Portola’s No. 2 doubles team of Jiah Lee and Leanna Roman and No. 3 doubles team of Sahana Chakravarthy and Imani Shah made significant contributions, with both tandems sweeping all three sets.

    In a set that required a tiebreaker to decide, No. 1 singles player Kylie Nguyen lost to Eagles No. 1 player Grace Kersenbrock.

    But Nguyen won his next two sets.

    “For me personally, I kind of came into the match hoping to be on the same level as this girl,” Nguyen said. “I (knew) I could get close to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way I wanted, but I channeled that inner fire to do well in the next two matches. There’s definitely a tough group of players I am so proud of my team for their work.

    Santa Margarita (23-2) was making the Open Division playoffs for the first time.

    The Bulldogs last won a section title in 2019 when they defeated Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks for the Division 3 championship.

    The Bulldogs had since been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, including losing in the first round of the Open Division last season.

    “So this year has been historic,” Schottland said. “We passed the first round and now we have passed the semi-finals. Now it’s the final match, but that’s an accomplishment in itself.

    Umito
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like