JV and Varsity players dominated this week at league finals. Melissa Matsuoka and Hailey Hogan captured the Varsity League Doubles Championship against Scott/Thompson from University with a final score of 8-3. Because of that win, the girls will move on to the CIF individual Playoffs on Friday, November 20^th.

Ariana Naaseh and Catherine Keligian placed first in the JV Pacific Coast League Individual Doubles Final, winning 6-4, 6-4 over their opponents, Jaden Heinecke and Alicia Ginsberg. “I felt really happy and proud that all my work this season paid off,” said Keligian.

Also, Megan Henegan beat her opponent Joslyn Lu from Beckman 8-5, winning the Singles Championship overall.

Future Individual Playoffs will hopefully be a success as well.

The continuously undefeated girls frosh/soph tennis team has had another victory yet again. In their match against San Juan Hills on Thursday, the girls easily defeated them for the second time around with a score of 16-0.  “It was fun, I felt really good about my game strategies. and oh yeah, we dominated”, commented Sophomore Elise Sadler.

After defeating San Juan Hills 17-1 the first time, the girls were confident that they would prevail. “I felt like we were really dominative today, all of us did well”, said Sophomore Sophia Reynolds.

Overall, the team kept up a good performance as usual, with strong doubles teams as well as consistent singles.

Sophomore Caroline Larsen

The girls were all hyped up today, knowing that they had to play their most fierce competition, University High School, whose Varsity team is currently ranked fifth in C.I.F.  CdM’s junior varsity team even had to bring in some “tweeners” as they are called by the players, in other words, girls who play for both varsity and junior varsity.

Junior Varsity coach Jody Young said, “This is our biggest match of the year. University is always the toughest one and we are going to do our best to beat them again,” which pertains to both the varsity and junior varsity matches.

Varsity had an amazing win today, beating University 10-8. The girls also succeeded in winning all nine of their doubles sets and one singles set to win their eleventh league match of the season. Some noteworthy singles matches of the day include Katelyn Nguyen who had an amazing comeback from losing 1-4, then gaining five more sets winning 6-4. Also, number one doubles duo Kelli Feeley and Azadeh Nazemi won their matches 6-2, 7-6, and 6-0. For number two doubles, partners Hailey Hogan and Kalika Slevcove won their matches 6-1, 6-2, and 6-4.

Junior Varsity also had a noteworthy win, beating University with a score of 12-4. Despite the increased level of competition, the girls were able to remain focused throughout their sets.

 Junior Varsity number four doubles player Ariana Naaseh said, “Catherine (Keligian) and I had a pretty easy match, but we stayed focused on our game anyway.”

Some notable matches of the day include number two singles player Caroline Larsen who won 6-3 against University’s number two player while remaining focused on putting a lot of power into her shots. Also, the girls dominated in doubles with number one players Piper Bledsoe and Jessica Beyer winning both their matches 6-0 and 6-1 and number three players Erica Lewis and Annika Gerken winning 6-2 and 6-1.

With the skill and confidence possessed by these girls, it’s no wonder why they are the team to beat.

In another match of the season, The Sea Queens girls’ varsity tennis over-ruled the game. The Sea Queens won against opposing team Sage Hill. With doubles partners Alison Ishii and Kenzie Ludlow winning 6-0 and 6-3 in two of their matches. Piper Bledsoe and Jessica Beyer won their match 6-1. Even though the lineup was mixed up due to a missing player, the team did exceptionally well. Number one singles, Melissa Matsuoka won 6-1. Katelyn Nguyen, number two in singles, won both of her matches 6-0 and 6-1. Number one doubles, Kelli Feeley and Azadeh Nazemi succeeded in their match, winning 6-3. At the end of the match, Kalika Slevcove won in singles, 6-3.

“ I knew what to expect from my opposing team mate since I have played her before,” said Slevcove.

“The team did really well,” said Beyer after the match.

The Sea Queens dominated once again. Congratulations girls!

With 7 strong, undefeated matches under their belt, the girls Frosh/Soph tennis team was sure to defeat San Juan Hills on Tuesday. With an overall win of 17-1, the girls rejoiced over their victory.  “We always dominate, so we’ll keep dominating”, said freshman Melis Gunay.

The girls kept up their smooth techniques, showing obvious improvement while still maintaining their original style. Elise Sadler and Sophia Reynolds were a good team as always, with several poaches by Elise that were sure to win.“Me and Elise dom’d the other team. The rest of our team also played phenomenally”, commented Reynolds.

Sophomores Sofia Pardini and Maddy Markley kept up their typical performance, which includes strong serves and good team work.

Overall, the girls kept up their above average status, winning 17-1 over San Juan Hills.

Above: Sophomore Catherine Keligian

The girls came out with yet another defeat over Beckman High School in today’s match, winning 15-1. “The girls played really well today. Even with two days off due to the rain. The girls also dropped one match through all the fifty matches played in singles, which is pretty impressive,” noted Coach Jody Young.

Some sweeping matches in the singles category include number two player, Sophomore Afaf Moustafa, who won both of her matches 6-0 and number four player, Sophomore Catherine Keligian, who also won 6-0 in both rounds.

The girls also played really well in the doubles category, dropping only four matches out of forty-two. Many of the players, including number four doubles duo, Sophomore Allie Ridge and Freshman Sally Evans, agree that consistent rallies had a huge affect on the girls’ success. Just as number one singles player, Sophomore Caroline Larsen said, “I had to focus really hard on making consistent shots while playing my match,” which seems to be the strategy along with the key to success of many of the other players on the team.

Above: Sophomore Afaf Moustafa

“All the girls came out ready to dominate,” said Sophomore Ariana Naaseh about today’s match in which the CdM J.V. Girls tennis team defeated Irvine High School in their second league match of the season with a score of 14-0. Overall, the girls played with great skill today. Even though number two singles player, Sophomore Afaf Moustafa, has not played in one week she still dominated in her matches winning 6-0 in both of the sets that she played. Moustafa said that in order to win her matches her strategy was to, “keep the ball in as much as possible.”

Some other girls that gained big wins in singles for CdM include number one player, Caroline Larsen who won 6-0 and 6-1 and  Catherine Keligian who also won 6-0. For doubles, number two players Olivia Dajee and Madie Hayworth won both their matches 6-1 and number three players Savannah Thies and Natasha Fisker won their match 6-0.

Even though winning is nothing new for these girls, they still maintain a modest attitude by always anticipating a challenge, as J.V. coach Jody Young said, “The teams we play have new girls each year and we have to be prepared for anything.”

“Junior varsity is dominant,” said Ariana Naaseh proudly.

The Sea Queens beat Calvary Chapel in a landslide victory. Sophomores Catherine Keligian and Ariana Naaseh played doubles and won 6-0. Other doubles partners, sophomore Hannah Gross and junior Alexi Kim beat their opposing team with a 6-1 score the first round and 6-0 the second round.

“So far this year has been great, junior varsity hasn’t lost a match in two years,” said Coach Young. “Our whole tennis program prides itself in doubles and strong singles,” said Young.

Freshmen Maddie Hayward and Olivia Dajee played consistently and won both of their double rounds with 6-0 and 6-2 scores. “We made sure we were warmed up and ready to play,” said Hayward. “And then we smashed them!” added Dajee.

Since frosh/soph players, freshmen Shea O’Hill and Sophia Chen have played exceptionally well in their matches they got to play in the junior varsity match against Calvary Chapel. Chen won her singles match 6-0. “I prepared for the game by practicing and playing a lot of matches,” said Chen.

Doubles partners, sophomores Caroline Larsen and Afaf Moustafa quickly took down the opposing doubles team in fifteen minutes with a leading score of 6-0.

All of the energetic players kept their undefeated streak and beat Calvary Chapel in the fifth match of the season. Way to go Sea Queens!

Above: Freshman Nini Ugralidze

“There’s always going to be another mountain, we’re always going to want to make it move, and we do. Which is why we dominate,” says Junior Jessica Beyer, explaining why CdM Girl’s Varsity Tennis never loses. Usually it’s safe to say that CdM Girl’s tennis “dominates”, however, with a team as highly ranked as Peninsula, Senior Melissa Matsuoka states, “There is no easy match. We just have to keep on fighting,” which is exactly what the girls do to stay on top.

Today, September 29, 2009, CdM beat Peninsula 14-4 due to some amazing matches. For singles, the results are as follows: number one player Melissa Matsuoka won 6-2 against Peninsula’s number one player and 6-0 against the number three player; number two player Katelyn Nguyen won her match 6-2 against Peninsula’s number two player; number three singles player Nini Ugralidze also won her matches against Peninsula’s number two player 6-1 and 6-2 against the number three player. For doubles, number one players Kelli Feeley and Azadeh Nazemi won their match 6-2 against Peninsula’s number one players; number two players Kalika Slevcove and Hailey Hogan won 6-0 against Peninsula’s number one players and 6-2 against the number two players; number three players Alison Ishii and Piper Bledsoe won their match 6-3 against the Peninsula’s number three players.

With the attitudes and strategies displayed by the CdM girls on the courts, it’s no wonder why they are a tough team to beat!