First-place Burbank High falls to Arcadia

By Jeff Tully, The Burbank Leader

BURBANK — Things couldn’t have been any closer after the first two of three rounds of Thursday’s girls’ tennis match between league-leading Burbank High and Arcadia.

Burbank High’s doubles team of Veronica Mendoza and Gabrielle Markari tied the Bulldogs’ match versus Arcadia at 9 with a 7-5 victory in Pacific League play Thursday afternoon at Burbank High. The Apaches won, though, on games, 79-77. (Tim Berger/Staff Photographer)

In a battle of the Pacific League’s top squads, the teams were tied in sets at 6 and in games at 51 headed into the final round.

Although the teams split the final six games to both finish with 9, the Apaches were able to claim the victory at Burbank by just two games, 9-9 (79-77).

The win by Arcadia (8-1, 10-1 in league) – ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division II – puts it into a tie with seventh-ranked Burbank (11-2, 8-1) for the league lead with four matches remaining.

Despite losing a close match, Bulldogs Coach Loi Phan was not disappointed. In fact, he was happy. That’s because with the 9-9 tie, Burbank still holds the tiebreaker against the Apaches after beating them in the teams’ first meeting Sept. 17, 10-8. If both teams run the table the rest of the way, Burbank will get the No. 1 seed for the playoffs from the league.

Read the full recap by Jeff Tully of the Burbank Leader.