Cougars fall in 1st round

APPLE VALLEY • Despite a record-breaking season for the Granite Hills girls tennis team, CIF wasn’t very kind when it came to postseason seeding.

But the Cougars played No. 3 seeded Buckley tough and lost 11-7 in a CIF-Southern Section Division V first-round playoff match on Thursday.

Granite Hills (18-3) finished the season with the most victories in school history and went undefeated in Desert Sky League play. Buckley (10-5) finished second to No. 1 seeded Viewpoint in the Liberty League.

“That was a very good match for these girls today,” Granite Hills coach Pat Jenkins said. “It’s good for the program to build on. I think we represented ourselves very well today. I’m very proud of these girls.”

Freshman Alexis Mariano swept, and classmate Jasmine Kimbrough, who came into the match undefeated on the season, took two sets for the Cougars.

Mariano’s sweep included a 7-6 (3) tiebreaker win over Buckley’s No. 1 Madeline Fuhrman.

“Over the last couple of weeks, (Mariano’s) game has stepped up,” Jenkins said. “That win against their No. 1 today, I think is by far the best win she had this season. But I’ve seen what she’s done playing tournaments and I think that’s the best tennis she’s played.”

Her sweep followed a second-place showing at the Desert Sky League Finals on Nov. 7 when she knocked off Silverado’s Hannah Brown in the semifinals. Mariano lost to Brown both times they met in their dual matches.

The Griffins won seven of nine doubles matches, which included a tie-breaking win for their No. 1 team of Emily Caris and Diana Barkhoudarian over the Cougars’ No. 1 team of Kristina Dunkin and Lian Trekell. Buckley’s No. 2 team of Hadleigh Glist and Ali Guthy — who finished as the Liberty League MVP — didn’t drop a game.

“Never at any point did we think that we had it until we hit the 10-mark,” Buckley coach Sue Sherman said. “And I think that comes from (Jenkins’) coaching.”

Kimbrough, Mariano, Dunkin and Trekell will compete in the CIF-SS Individual Qualifying Sectionals beginning on Nov. 22 at the Claremont Club.

BUCKLEY SINGLES
Fuhrman 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-0; Madievsky 2-6, 3-6, 6-0; Krylova 3-6, 1-6, 6-1.
BUCKLEY DOUBLES
Caris-Barkhoudarian 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1; Guthy-Glist 6-0, 6-0, 6-0; Gershman-Super 2-6, 1-6, 6-1.
GRANITE HILLS SINGLES
Kimbrough 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; Mariano 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-1; Miller 0-6; Perkins 0-6, 1-6.
GRANITE HILLS DOUBLES
Dunkin-Trekell 6-7 (4), 0-6, 6-2; Reddy-Salazar 3-6, 0-6, 6-1; (Dornbach-Bender)-Patel 0-6; (Dornbach-Bender)-Tullier 0-6, 1-6.

C.J. Daft can be reached via e-mail at christiand@vvdailypress.com or at 951-6275.