Lauren Panajotovic, Mayfield’s No. 1 tennis player breezed through Flintridge Sacred Heart’s singles lineup without dropping a game in three sets. The Cubs’ sophomore star beat Sacred Heart No. 1 player Kate Hodges, 6-0, Ellen Li (No. 2), 6-0, and No. 3 Lauren Montgomery, 6-0. She quietly set the pace for the 12-6 nonleague victory […]
Lauren Panajotovic, Mayfield’s No. 1 tennis player breezed through Flintridge Sacred Heart’s singles lineup without dropping a game in three sets.
The Cubs’ sophomore star beat Sacred Heart No. 1 player Kate Hodges, 6-0, Ellen Li (No. 2), 6-0, and No. 3 Lauren Montgomery, 6-0.
She quietly set the pace for the 12-6 nonleague victory over Flintridge Sacred Heart Tuesday afternoon at the Scholl Golf and Tennis Club in Glendale.
To win a high school team tennis match, the first squad to 10 victories in the 18 matches (9 singles, 9 doubles matches) is the victor.
Panajotovic is so good that one of the mother’s of the other team walked over to her after she was leaving the court for the third time and said “you’re the best high school tennis player I’ve ever seen and I wanted to shake your hand.”
The young sophomore politely smiled, shook the mom’s hand and thanked her for the compliment.
“I play at a lot of (tennis) clubs and tennis can be an individual game, but I really enjoy bonding at these team matches with the girls,” Panajotovic said. “I never know much about my opponents and never sure what to expect, but I played well today.”
Mayfield No. 2, Carly Hall won all three matches, winning 6-0 twice and then defeating Hodges, 6-3.
The Cubs went 7-2 in singles with No. 3 player Sofia Mireles, going 1-1, beating Montgomery 6-2, but dropping a 6-3 match to Hodges.
“This was only our second match of the season and all of our players did better than expected,” Mayfield coach Silvana Stans said. “We beat Maranatha last week and we’re preparing for our league opener at Poly on September 16.”
The No. 1 doubles team of Jack Baggott and Ciara Venegas put the Cubs over the top by going 3-0, including a 6-0 victory over Tologs No. 1 team of Margaux Bline and Armiola Villalobos.
“We’re a very inexperienced team, but we’re getting better with each match,” Flintridge Sacred Heart coach Ron Zambrano said. “Their No. 1 player (Panajotovic) is very good and very consistent. The more experience we get, the better we’ll be, and right now is just about getting ready for league play.”
