Focus was a key issue in the first round CIF Southern Section Division 3 girls’ tennis match between Burbank and visiting Camarillo High.
Camarillo’s players had to remain calm and not get caught up in what was happening as a brush fire broke out back in their hometown.
Burbank played short-handed by forfeiting three sets as punishment for three players missing practice.
The end result was a 13-5 victory for the visiting Scorpions.
“We were all kind of stressed and had an uneasy feeling on the bus. Once we started playing tennis, that feeling went away. Tennis helped us get the fire off our mind,” Camarillo captain Gianna Witt said.
Four of the 11 players on Camarillo’s team actually attend Rancho Campana High, a magnet school that doesn’t offer athletics, and is close to where the fire started.
“I think they hid their emotions pretty well considering they had a fire back there,” Burbank’s Sena Hammel said of Camarillo’s players.
Hammel, who won the Pacific League singles title a week ago, took two of three sets.
She lost 7-5 to Camarillo freshman Kaci Colby, but earned 6-0 wins over Amber Koh and Delinda Jon, the Scorpions’ No. 2 and No. 3 singles players.
Burbank No. 2 Mira Hammel went 3-6, 1-6, 6-0.
In doubles, the Burbank No. 1 team of Yeva Sarkisian and Gulim Seitimbetova lost 6-1 to the Camarillo team of Reilly Ricasata and Witt. They lost 7-5 to the No. 2 team of Tanvi Hosabatta and Sofia Astvasadoorian and lost 6-3 to the No. 3 team of Isabella Brown and Abigail Baldwin.
Burbank’s No. 2 of Karina Gabrielyan and Tamara Khachatryan lost 6-1 to Witt and Ricasata. They lost 7-5 to Hosabatta and Astvasadoorian, but defeated Brown and Baldwin, 6-3.
The Burbank No. 3 team of Ilona Ghazaryan and Ani Ognaesian lost 6-2 to Witt and Ricasata, but defeated Hosabatta and Astvasadoorian 6-2. They lost 6-3 to Baldwin and Camille Quan. Quan replaced Brown in the Camarillo lineup.
