Rain dampened the start to the Rio Hondo League girls’ tennis tournament, but despite the postponement, singles and doubles players from San Marino High School were ready to take on their league opponents.
San Marino singles player Katie-Lynn Hoang won the league title as the tournament’s No. 1 seed, while Titans duo Kate Chung and Olivia Hsu captured the doubles crown after toppling the competition’s top-seeded pair from La Cañada on Oct. 28.
All nine participating Titans players advanced in the first round, with Hoang and Titans teammate Carina Yang, the tournament No. 2 seed, both had opening-round byes. Hoang won the league championship without dropping a single game.
Emily Xue won her match 8-2, and Titans doubles teams Chung and Hsu, and Mia Lin and Selene Yung each won their matches 8-0. San Marino pair Audrey Ranabarger and Kate Kohn won their doubles match 8-4.
In the quarterfinals, Hoang and Yang won their singles matches 8-0, and duo Chung and Hsu won their doubles matchup 8-0. Titans pair Lin and Yung also won their doubles quarterfinal, 8-5, to wrap up the first day of the tournament.
The participants returned Oct. 28 for the semifinal and championship matches.
Hoang advanced to the title match with a 6-0, 6-0 semifinal win, while Yang fought her way to the tournament finale after a marathon of a match that spanned 3 hours, 45 minutes.
Yang dropped the first set 7-6 (14-12), but battled back in the second set for a 6-4 victory and a semifinal-clinching 11-9 tiebreaking win.
Hoang was crowned singles champion after Yang pulled out of the final round due to injury.
Meanwhile, Chung and Hsu reached the doubles championship match after a 7-5, 6-4 semifinal victory over the tournament No. 2-seeded team from Temple City. The Titans pair handily defeated the league top-seeded duo from La Cañada, 6-2, 6-1, to win the doubles title. Lin and Yung won their third-place matchup against the No. 2-seeded Temple City pair, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9.
The tournament followed a Rio Hondo League campaign in which the Titans capped an undefeated season on Oct. 23 with a home victory over Monrovia. San Marino (10-0 overall) honored their seniors Taylor Hong, Alexa Hong and co-captain Selene Yung that day after clinching yet another Rio Hondo League team title.
San Marino girls’ tennis opened their postseason run in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoff with a home match Wednesday against Sage Hill, an at-large team from the Pacific Coast League.
Results of the playoff opener were not available as of the Tribune’s deadline.
First published in the Nov. 2 issue of the San Marino Tribune
