Goldie La just keeps winning, heads to CIF field of 32

Claremont High School freshman, Goldie La won three singles matches at the Claremont Club on Monday in the first rounds of the CIF Southern Section Girls Individual Tennis Regionals tournament, and will advance to next week’s round of 32 competitors.

The girls played to best of three sets with the final set being a 10-point super tiebreaker.

La had a pretty easy time in the first and second rounds, first defeating Kelly Eller of Grand Terrace, 6-1, 6-1, and then Aryn Marshall of Ranch Cucamonga, 6-2, 6-1.

In the last round of play, La defeated number four seed Ella Pachl, a sophomore from Laguna Beach High School, 6-3, 6-7, 10-5.

Throughout the regular season, and the team CIF tournament, La did not lose a set. She made it all the way to her third round match with Pachl before dropping a set, the narrow 6-7 second set.

Twenty-eight girls started the bracket Tuesday morning at the club, and by that evening only four advanced: La, Danielle Willson of Corona del Mar, Rachelle Yang of Arcadia and Jourdan Wallace of Pasadena. Across the southland similar tournaments will fill in the other 28 slots for the finals.

“Goldie plays with such composure. Her mental toughness is one of her biggest strengths and she’s able to adjust her game plan to match her opponents’ strengths and weaknesses,” said Coach Kathy Settles.

She will represent the Pack on Tuesday, when the top 32 Southern California high school players meet at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in Whittier, for a chance to claim the individual CIF title.

La may be the last one standing, but Claremont had a remarkable season, losing in the third round of the team CIF tournament to Redlands, which was the eventual champion. The result bodes well for the future because the varsity squad includes four freshmen.

“Its pretty exciting,” Coach Settles said about the team’s prospects next year. “It’s all a building block, competing at that level gives them a taste of where they need to be [to win a CIF title.]”

La made it all the way to the third round of the CIF tournament before dropping a set, the narrow 6-7 second set against Pachl.

She will represent Claremont High School when the top 32 high school players in Southern California come together in Whittier to compete for an individual CIF title in that elite group.

—Steven Felschundneff

steven@claremont-courier.com

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