Santa Barbara High girls tennis took care of business on the road against Rio Mesa on Thursday, picking up the 13-5 win.
The drama of this match came at the top singles matchup, where Santa Barbara High had Ella Weathers going up against Rio Mesa’s Chandra Padua in a battle that lasted an hour.
After splitting the first two sets, Weathers and Padua engaged in a back-and-forth tiebreaker where Weathers came out on top 7-5.
Following that long victory, Weathers swept the rest of her singles matches.
With the win, Santa Barbara High moved to 11-6 overall and 6-1 in Channel League action.
Carpinteria 14, Nordhoff 4
The Warriors continued to cruise through their season with a 14-4 win over Nordhoff.
“This was one of our better matches of the season as we played a much improved Ranger squad,” Carpinteria coach Charles Bryant said. “I was so proud of our girls on many fronts besides the winning margin today. We showed a lot more team focus.
“We knew this would be a tough match and the girls responded with both great singles and doubles play. “
In doubles play, the Warriors won eight of nine sets and had three different pairings sweep their matchups.
The duos of Charlotte Cooney/Allison Banks, Sasha Porinsh/Keyla Manriquez and Sara Fakinos/Valeria Zamora each walked away with sweeps.
“We were trying to be more aggressive at the net and doing a better job of keeping the ball away from their net player,” Bryant said. “I thought we succeeded in doing so today.”
In singles, Silke Leonard and Izzy Scott picked up sweeps to contribute to the win.
“It was a close match despite the overall score and I am truly proud of how we competed on the court and the intangibles on the sidelines with our team today,” Bryant said. “We had exceptional team spirit, camaraderie and just an overall excitement in the score and how the match was progressing.”
Carpinteria is now 11-1 on the year and 7-0 in league. They will take on second-place Malibu on Tuesday.
Thacher 15, Bishop Diego 3
The Cardinals were outmatched by Thacher, falling 15 to 3 at the Santa Barbara Municipal tennis courts.
Haley Hubbs stood out for Bishop Diego, winning two of three sets in singles play.
“Haley’s confidence continues to grow,” Cardinals coach Pete Kirkwood said. “She is swinging through the ball with better acceleration and doing it more often.”
“She is showing some grit and mental toughness that #1 players seem to always have.”
The third Bishop Diego point came from the duo of Elisha McCullough and Anja Fassbind, who won their second round by a score of 6-1.
“It was an impressive set for Elisha and Anja as all three of Thacher’s doubles teams were really good,” Kirkwood said. “It was the most aggressive I’ve seen Anja at the net and Elisha was blasting forehands.
“Both served well and returned well. When that happens there’s a good flow and they both play with more energy.”
The Cardinals (2-4, 2-1 Frontier League) will be on the road against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday.
“I thought the effort and hustle were as good as ever,” Kirkwood said. “The problem was in the battle of who is going to be proactive and who is going to play reactive. We ended up on the reactive side way too much.”
Templeton 5, Santa Ynez 4
The Pirates fell in a tight matchup with Templeton, 5-4.
Kate Mazza, Paige Halme and Grace Sugich each won their singles matchups. Halme and Sugich swept their opponents while Mazza won 10-4 in the tiebreaker to get the win.
The lone Pirate duo to walk away with a win was the pairing of Danielle Hyland and Violet Quinney, who defeated their opponents 8-1.
With the loss, Santa Ynez dropped to 6-7 on the season and 3-5 in league.
Foothill Tech 11, Providence 7
Providence fell to Foothill Tech on the road, 11-7, playing at Ventura College.
Sarah Monroy and Abby Gobbell were bright spots for the Patriots in singles play, winning five of the team’s seven sets.
The doubles pairing of Emma Crooks and Ellie Macker competed in a back-and-forth battle, eventually falling 7-5.
The Patriots will get a rematch with Foothill Tech at home in two weeks.