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Girls Tennis Captures St. Margaret's 14th CIF Championship

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The St. Margaret's Girls Varsity Tennis team won the CIF Championship on Monday, Nov. 24. This is the second CIF Title for the tennis program; the first was in 2002. The team went undefeated finishing a perfect season 23-0. They started the season ranked third in the division but with big wins over Laguna Beach and Capistrano Valley High School the team quickly moved to first. The Orange County Register ranks all teams in Orange County regardless of division, and the Tartans finished the season ranked fifth in the County.

In the Championship match the Tartans faced Academy League opponent Sage Hill School. This was the fourth meeting of these teams this season. They first met in Sage Hill's tournament where the Tartans won 6-3. In league play on October 23, the Tartans also won in a very close 10-8 match. Just six days later they faced them again with the Tartans coming up victorious at 14-4.

On a cloudy and windy Monday afternoon, the Tartans had to fight with everything they had to become the champions. In the first round the ladies took an early lead finishing 4-2. Hannah Hurr had a big win against the number three singles player, 7-5, and doubles team of Serene Haddad and Francis Lydon also beat the number three doubles team 7-5. The Tartans became tight in the second round and fell 2-4 making the match scores tied at six all. Wins came in on a steady pace from singles players Melanie Hess and Tiffany Chang. Both players won two sets and only lost one during the entire match.

In the most dramatic set of the day, Tartans doubles team Mary-Rachel Walsh and Allie Davis played the number three doubles team. Sage Hill was up early, leading 3-1. Walsh/Davis fought back to get it back on serve at 5-6. With Allie Davis serving, they went down 15-40. The girls fought off two match points to win the game and tie it at 6 all pushing a tiebreak. With all the momentum on their side, Mary-Rachel and Allie won decisively 7-3 in the tiebreak to take the set. This put the overall match score at 9-8 with one match remaining. Number one doubles team, Haley Miller and Hannah Hess, played the Sage Hill number two doubles team. Just like the rest of the sets they played that day, Haley and Hannah won by a score of 6-3.

Congratulations to the entire Tennis team along with Coach Trager and Assistant Coach Miller.

Contact:
Anne Mack
949.661.0108 x252
949.400.2055 (mobile)
anne.mack@smes.org