Twins!
The Bay League Pairs Tournament took place on Monday.

One side of the bracket had three sets of twins, Savanna and Giselle Lau of Mira Costa, Mallory and Molly Labreche of Palos Verdes, and Addison and Avery Junk of Redondo Union.

The Labreche twins made it out of their bracket to reach the finals opposite the Costa pair of Taylor Deckert and Olga Nikolaeva. That pair knocked out two other Mira Costa pairs to reach the finals but lost in the championship match.

The Labreches and Deckert/Nikolaeva pair will represent the Bay League in the Southern Section Pairs Championship.

Disclosing NDA’s success

Mission League pairs champion Olivia Leigh and Kalia Sanchez-Kahanamoku pose with their Notre Dame Academy coach

Notre Dame Academy of Los Angeles had a very good week. The Regal Gryphons defeated Marymount in their last scheduled match to claim first place in the Mission League.

“This was a huge win for us since we have never beaten Marymount in the 11 years I have been coaching at NDA (indoor or beach),” said coach Helen Reale.  “They have not fielded a beach team in the past three years when the pandemic began but nevertheless this was a big one for us.  We beat them on all five Varsity courts!” 

NDA had another big win this week when seniors Olivia Leigh and Kalia Sanchez-Kahanamoku won the Mission League Pairs on Monday.  They will be representing the Mission League and Notre Dame Academy at the Southern Section Pairs Championship. 

“We are very proud of their achievement, athleticism, and integrity on and off the court!” Reale said.

News and notes

Royal found success on the sand for the second straight year

Royal is the Coastal Canyon League champ for the second straight year. The Highlanders are 16-0 in league play during that span.

The beach program is relatively new at Royal. Matthew Garland started coaching the team two years ago because his senior daughter wanted to play beach in her final season and the Highlanders did not have a coach. Ten players participated in his first season as coach, but now they have 24 girls on varsity. Garland, a Captain for the Burbank Fire Department, gets help coaching the team from his daughter when she is able.

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Steele Canyon finished off an undefeated 6-0 season in league by beating Montgomery, 3-2. This is the second league championship for the Cougars.