Girls’ Tennis Preview: La Cañada led by new pair of sisters

Success was certainly enjoyed when it came to high school girls’ tennis in La Cañada.

Two of the city’s programs — La Cañada High and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy — each enjoyed solid team seasons, led by the Tologs, along with individual accolades, keyed by the Spartans’ CIF run.

The question facing the duo as the season nears its start is whether or not the good times will continue.

La Cañada waved goodbye to one McKenzie sister and welcomed another onto campus this summer.

Freshman Sophie McKenzie will join her sister Cassie on a Spartans squad that finished 10-7 last season and 7-3 in the Rio Hondo League, which translated into a third-place finish.

The Spartans did defeat visiting San Marcos, 12-6, in the wild-card round before succumbing to division runner-up University, 16-2, in the first round.

“High school tennis is about having fun and I’m looking forward to starting,” Sophie McKenzie said.

McKenzie is slated to be La Cañada’s No. 2 singles player behind Cassie, one half of last year’s All-Area Girls’ Doubles Team of the Year along with Ally, who graduated and moved on to to St. Louis University.

“Honestly, there’s no difference or drop off with Sophie instead of Ally,” Cassie McKenzie said. “She’s very experienced and knows the game. The only difference between this year and last, I guess, is that I’m the older sister.”

Last season, the sister combo of Ally and Cassie McKenzie advanced to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament.

At least in the regular season, Spartans Coach Will Moravec doesn’t see the practicality of putting the two together.

“There’s too many points lost if you put them on a doubles team,” Moravec said. “So, they’re going to be one and two.”

Outside of the top two, Moravec is looking for junior Elizabeth Lee or sophomore Nicole Son to take that last singles spot.

As for doubles play, the Spartans have a strong pair returning in seniors Emily Matuska and Sharyse Watanabe.

Moravec believes that the duo of freshmen Ashley Chun and Solenn Matuska and the pairing of sophomore Sarah Settles and senior sister Channon Settles will fill out the No.2 doubles void.

“I think it can be more of the same, like last year,” Moravec said. “We have a good group, but we’re in a tough league and a very difficult division in Division I.”

After nearly 30 years, Flintridge Sacred Heart enjoyed its most successful season and gained plenty of recognition.

Flintridge Sacred Heart won the Sunshine League championship under coach Ron Zambrano, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year. The Tologs went 11-6 and won their first league crown since 1985. Flintridge Sacred Heart also won its first CIF Southern Section playoff match during Zambrano’s tenure, which began in 1996.

With seven seniors back in the lineup, the Tologs are more experienced and might be in good standing to win back-to-back league championships.

“I do think we have a great chance to win our league again,” Zambrano said. “We’ve talked about what it might be like to do that and they know what it takes to get there.

“We’re going to be up against some very good teams, not only in league but outside of league. There’s going to be some pressure being hunted, but I think we are looking real good. We’ll see how our players respond.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart will bring back its top doubles team of senior Holly MacVaugh and junior Margaux Blain to lead the charge. The duo captured the league doubles title and reached the second round of CIF Individual Tournament. MacVaugh and Blaine combined to go 35-2 en route to being named to the All-Area team.

The Tologs will also bring back senior Camille Katz and junior Kate Hodges to help fortify the lineup. Katz will see time in singles and doubles and Hodges will compete in singles.

Morisa Yang will be the new coach at Flintridge Prep, which will play its home matches at Arcadia Tennis Center after previously competing at Scholl Canyon Tennis Center.

Flintridge Prep, which went 3-13 in 2014 and finished fifth in the Prep League, will return several key singles players, including sophomore Crystal Juan and juniors Suzie Kim and Maddie Preiss. Juan enjoyed a superb first season, finishing 40-5, 26-4 in the Prep League en route to securing All-Area accolades.

While the Rebels appear set in singles, Yang will look to find some sufficient doubles players to help round out the team.

“We’re definitely happy with who we have in singles,” said Yang, a former player at the University of California. “We just want to now focus on finding consistent partners in doubles.

“They need to believe in themselves and they will start to see their potential.”

-- Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter: @campadresports

-- Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich