From the sports archives: Hillsdale High School's Mariko Iinuma and Natalie Spievack win Central Coast Section doubles title

Spievack and Iinuma’s 6-4, 6-2 win over Menlo School’s Christine Eliazo and Alice Yao is the first CCS title of any kind for a PAL school since Burlingame’s Nicole Ja won the singles crown in 1993 and the first doubles crown since Aragon’s Sebrian and Melinda Lau won it in 1990.

“It’s definitely good to do it for our area,” Spievack said.

It is also the first CCS tennis title of any kind for Hillsdale. Pam Kahler lost in the 1980 singles final.

This was Speivack’s first and only year playing for the Hillsdale team and it was a memorable one. The Knights finished as co-champions of the PAL Bay Division, then Spievack and Iinuma teamed up to win the PAL doubles title and qualify for CCS, where they were the top seed.

“I don’t think we were surprised (to get the top seed),” Spievack said. “But it kind of set expectations high. We wanted to go in and have respect for all our opponents and play as well as we possibly could.”Iinuma, on the other hand, was a bit shocked to be seeded No. 1. As the tournament went on, however, she started to think about winning a CCS title.

“I was surprised we got the first seed, so I was a little nervous,” Inuma said. “But once we started playing, I felt confident in myself so I thought we could do it.”

Not only did the Hillsdale tandem win the CCS doubles title, they did it in dominating fashion. In four matches, they did not drop a set — the closest coming when they needed a tiebreaker in the first set of their semifinal match against a team from Carmel. They went on to win the tiebreaker and the second set 6-2 to advance to the championship match against the Menlo pair.

Normally, playing a Menlo team would put fear into a team from the PAL. The Knights are a perennial CCS title contender and have not lost a team match to a PAL squad in at least a decade.

But Spievack has a special connection with Eliazo.

“I’ve been playing against her since I was 9,” Spievack said. “I know her really well. It definitely helped that we knew who they were and are familiar with how they play.”

The Hillsdale pair was also buoyed by the fact Iinuma’s ankle was getting stronger every match. Despite severely spraining her left ankle leading up to the PAL tournament, Iinuma continued to play through the pain.

Now, three weeks removed from the initial injury, she just keeps getting better.

“I would say (the ankle is) 80 percent,” Iinuma said. “I’m still wearing a supporter, but it’s getting better. It’s totally fine.

“I was probably able to run normally and get to the ball faster. I think I was able to play pretty well [during the tournament].”

Spievack said Iinuma’s ankle must have been feeling pretty good because she said she believed there wasn’t as much slack to pick up.

“I think [her ankle is] pretty much good,” Spievack said. “I didn’t feel like I needed to cover for her and she could handle herself very well.”

The win caps another phenomenal year for Iinuma who, in three high school seasons, has yet to lose a PAL regular-season match. This year, after going undefeated as the Knights’ No. 3 singles player, she teamed with Spievack to win the PAL doubles title and now the CCS championship.

“I’m super happy,” Iinuma said. “I can’t even express how happy I am.”

Carlmont’s Cori Sidell, on the other hand, did not have a happy ending to her season. After winning two matches Monday, the third-seeded Sidell played a semifinal match Tuesday against second-seeded Liz Yao of Menlo School.

Sidell gave it her best, but Yao pulled out a tough, straight-set win, 6-3, 7-6. That win sent Yao into the championship match against Mitty’s Catalina Rico, the No. 1 seed.