Martin leads Panthers to perfect tennis season
By Dick Sparrer
Even before the season began, Mike Dudock thought his Prospect girls' tennis team could contend for the championship in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League... maybe even win it all.
That would certainly be an accomplishment, considering that the Panthers had just moved up the Santa Teresa circuit after winning the West Valley Division title just a year earlier.
And an accomplishment it was!
The Panthers not only won the Santa Teresa crown this fall, they won it in impressive fashion. Prospect breezed through league play to a 14-0 record, capping a perfect league season with a 6-1 win over Yerba Buena last week.
Julie Martin wrapped up a 14-0 season with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles to start the Panthers on the road to the easy win over the Warriors.
Michelle Stern won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 singles to cap an 11-2 season, and Elaine Tang finished league play 12-2 with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles. Marina Shlyapina suffered her only league loss at No. 3 singles, finishing the year 13-1.
Katie Gazlay and Natalie Kiyama chipped in with a 6-0, 7-6 win at No. 1 doubles. Harroop Singh and Judy Tang won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles and Connie Tang and Helen Yi won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 3.
Singh and J. Tang were 14-0 in league play, Gazlay and Kiyama finished 13-1 and C. Tang and Yi were 12-1.
The Panthers opened the BVAL playoffs with a tight 4-3 win over Mt. Pleasant. Martin won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and Stern won 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2. But the Panthers and Cardinals split 2-2 in singles play.
Prospect clinched the win in doubles action, though, winning two of three matches. Kiyama and Gazlay won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles and Singh and J. Tang won 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2.
The Panthers are currently 16-2 for the year.
Westmont wrapped up the regular season with a 5-2 win over Pioneer to finish second in the Santa Teresa Division at 11-3.
Katherine Bamford won 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) at No. 3 singles and Dana Nguyen won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 to start the Warriors on the road to the victory. Westmont swept in doubles play.
Prospect, Westmont and Pioneer's Kimmie Barnes dominated play at the Santa Teresa Division tournament last week.
Barnes and Martin played their way into the singles finals, and doubles teams from Westmont and Prospect were also dominant in the tournament.
Barnes won 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals before beating Martin 7-5, 6-4 to win the singles title. Martin had won 6-0, 6-1 in the semi's.
It was an all Westmont doubles finals with Anna Vugdalic and Megan Clapp outlasting teammates Nguyen and Bamford for the title.
Clapp and Vugdalic topped Stern and Shlyapina of Prospect in the semi-final round while Nguyen and Bamford were winning 6-3, 6-2 over an Oak Grove pair.
In the finals, Clapp and Vugdalic won the first set 7-5 before getting blanked 6-0 by Nguyen and Bamford in the second set. But Clapp and Vugdalic pulled out the doubles championship with a 6-4 win in the third and deciding set.
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