Pali High Tennis Tandem Second in City

It's hard not to feel a little pressure when you're playing for perfection.

All season long, senior co-captain Perri Zaret and sophomore Julie Takakjian have been a sure thing for the  girls tennis team. The two hadn't tasted a single defeat since being paired together against Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in the Dolphins' first league match of the season. Still, they were the underdogs going into last Friday's City Individual doubles final against top-seeded Analyssa Tallas and Samantha Nuno of Granada Hills.

The Dolphins' No. 1 duo entered the final having won all 20 of its sets and 130 of 142 games this season, but its opponents had the advantage of having won the title last year, beating Minda Le and Denise Poltavski of El Camino Real 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the final. That previous experience paid off for the Highlanders' tandem in a 6-3, 6-3 victory that completed Granada Hills' second consecutive triple crown.

"We were just trying to stick to our game and play within ourselves," said Zaret, a four-year varsity player along with Jessie Corneli, who was there to lend her support along with freshman Alexandra Kugler and got asked to serve as a line judge in the second set. "I got my nerves out in the last match and even though this was the finals, we do well with pressure. They were a good team and they hit the ball harder than other teams we've played."

The Highlanders' duo dropped eight games in its eight sets to repeat as champion. Freshman Sarah Nuno, Samantha's younger sister, captured the singles title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Dorsey junior Shayla Fulton, giving Granada Hills a clean sweep of the Los Angeles City Section team, singles and doubles titles at  in Encino.

"I've had so much fun playing with Perri," said Takakjian, who admitted to feeling more nervous than normal. "Overall, it was a good match and we were able to slow them down a bit. There were a lot of long points, which is what we wanted. When one of them was serving in the ad court, the other one played on that same side, which left Perri an open shot down the line."

Tallas and Nuno had employed the same tactic in their 6-1, 6-0 semifinal victory over Palisades' sixth-seeded Katie Pfannkuche and Jesse Zand, closing off half the court whenever serving to Pfannkuche, who, like Zaret, is left-handed and plays the ad side.

"We worked on that in practice yesterday and I got very confident hitting that shot, so Coach [Sean] Passan reminded me between sets," said Zaret, who played singles her first three years. "Towards the end they stopped doing that. We tried to stay aggressive and not give as much away at the net."

Aided by two double faults, Palisades' tandem broke Tallas' serve to even the second set 3-3, but the Highlanders' duo broke right back, held to go up 5-3, then broke Takakjian to close out the victory.

"It's not even that I lost, it's that this is the end," said Zaret, who couldn't help getting teary-eyed after her last high school match. "It sort of hit both of us when we were packing up our stuff. I can't believe it's gone by so fast."

Even though Takakjian still has two more years, she too got caught up in the emotion of the moment, remembering how her sister Katie had felt the year before after her final match at Palisades.

"When we were walking off the court I could see Perri was sad and it was kind of rubbing off on me," Takakjian said. "Being this close makes those of us who come back want to work even harder to win when we're seniors. I've been playing some [junior] tournaments to stay sharp in singles."

Passan expressed gratitude for Zaret's dedication to the program: "Perri evolved from a consistent singles player to one of the best doubles players that we've had in the last five years. The difference between her attempt at doubles with Rose Schlaff in ninth grade and with Julie this year is like night and day. She has the best mental toughness on the team and it's no surprise that I have so many memories of her coming up big in close matches."

Meanwhile, Zand and Pfannkuche were determined to end the season on a high after Wednesday's semifinal loss to Tallas and Nuno. They got exactly what they wanted, upsetting third-seeded Michelle Nguyen and Angelica Ramos of Carson 6-3, 6-4 in the third-place match. The Colts' duo lost to Tallas and Nuno 6-4, 6-2 in the Individual semifinals last season and fell to Zaret and Takakjian 6-2, 6-1 in the same round Wednesday.

"We both really wanted to win," Pfannkuche said. "They were really nice and it was fun playing them. Doing so well this year motivates me for my senior year. I'm definitely going to keep working on my game. I like doubles and I'm happy playing with anyone because I love this team."

Palisades' No. 2 team played in its share of adverse situations throughout the season, so when the match had to be moved to a different court because of a double-booking, neither player was phased.

"Me and Katie always like a challenge," added Zand, whose efforts earned her  honors as a freshman. "The court change wasn't a big deal. It comes with the territory. We only saw the end of their match the other day, but Perri and Julie told us what to look for. Doubles is a trickier game but I've enjoyed playing with Katie this year. I'm just happy to say we won our last match."

Granada Hills senior Cassandra Fisbeck left with two medals around her neck. The first was for her third-place finish in singles, which she earned with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Yvonne Likomanova of LACES, the top player in the Western League. The second was for the tournament's , which went to Corneli last season.

Passan has reason to be optimistic about the future for when all was said and done his squad had three of the top eight singles players and two of the three best doubles duos in the City Section.

"It was a great season," he said. "We went further than we have in four years and we're still a fairly young team so we have a lot to look forward to the next few years."

CITY INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT

SINGLES

Championship

(2) Sarah Nuno, Granada Hills d. (1) Shayla Fulton, Dorsey, 6-3, 6-2

Third Place

(4) Cassandra Fisbeck, Granada Hills d. (3) Yvonne Likomanova, LACES, 6-4, 6-4

DOUBLES

Championship

(1) Analyssa Tallas-Samantha Nuno, Granada Hills d. (2) Perri Zaret-Julie Takakjian, Palisades, 6-3, 6-3

Third Place

(6) Jesse Zand-Katie Pfannkuche, Palisades d. (3) Michelle Nguyen-Angelica Ramos, Carson, 6-3, 6-4

Sportsmanship Award: Cassandra Fisbeck, Granada Hills