It’s been a struggle of late for the Burbank High girls’ tennis team to piece together a starting lineup.
Hampered by injuries, resulting in bringing up players from the junior varsity squad, the Bulldogs have attempted to find their stride with the CIF playoffs just around the corner.
Minus its No. 1 singles player, Burbank closed out the regular season Thursday with a 13-5 Pacific League road victory against cross-town rival Burroughs.
The Bulldogs (12-4, 10-4 in league) swept the two-match season series against the Bears (5-10, 5-9). Burbank registered a 17-1 home win against Burroughs on Sept. 26.
Burbank took third in league and will participate in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. Burroughs missed the playoffs. Both teams will take part in the league tournament, which will be held Monday and Wednesday at Burroughs.
With top junior singles player and defending league champion Sena Hammel out of the lineup Thursday, Burbank turned to Mira Hammel, Sena’s sister, to pave the way. Mira Hammel, a freshman, swept, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.
“We’ve had to make quite a lot of changes with our lineup,” Burbank coach Loi Phan said. “They adapted and been able to pull together.
“They know their roles and it’s been a challenge having to shift people around a lot. We’ll just try to get healthy and see what we can do the rest of the way.”
The Bulldogs received two wins in singles from freshman Daphne Harbaugh, 6-1, 6-0.
Burbank dominated in doubles, capturing eight sets. The Bulldogs got three wins apiece from Brianna Kobramasihi and Chihiro Kato, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, and Molly Foenander and Jessica Han, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. Yeva Sarkisian and Ariana Khougaeva recorded two doubles wins, 6-2, 7-6(7-0), for Burbank.
The Bulldogs led, 4-2, after the first round and 9-3 after the second round.
Burroughs turned in a better effort against Burbank in comparison to the first head-to-head matchup.
The Bears got two wins in singles from Hannah Lewis, 6-1, 6-2. They also picked up one singles victory each from Abby Stell, 7-6(7-5), and Ava Marye, 6-4.
Burroughs’ Dana Pitsker and Leslie Femenias notched the lone doubles win, 6-3.
“I thought we played better compared to the first time,” Burroughs coach Roy Bernhardt said. “I thought Hannah Lewis played very well today.
“It turned out to be a pretty disappointing season for our team. We couldn’t get any consistency in some of our league matches. The good news is that we’ll have most of our team back next year. We should have at least eight returners.”
