Piedmont’s Tanya Kononova finished her high school career by finishing in third place at the North Coast Section Division 2 tournament.
Kononova defeated Head-Royce’s Noelle Chen in the third place match on November 14, 7-5, 6-1 at the Golden Gate Tennis Center. Kononova had lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Vivian Gallaway of Berean Christian, 6-1, 6-3.
Gallaway then downed Bishop O’Dowd’s Polina Marakhtanova in the finals, 6-3, 7-5.
Kononova opened the tournament on Nov. 13 by beating Arcata’s Iris Besmer, 6-0, 6-3. Kononova then beat Eloise Sent of Marin Academy, 6-2, 6-3. Kononova was the only Highlanders player to make the NCS individual and doubles championships.
The Piedmont team made it to the semifinals of the NCS Division 2 championships before losing to eventual champion University-San Francisco. The Highlanders opened the tournament with a 7-0 victory over visiting Marin Catholic on Nov. 7. Kononova defeated Maya Hosner in the No. 1 singles match, 6-0, 6-1. Kate Jumper beat Payton Greco at No. 2, 7-6 (0), 6-1. Carolina Romanczuk downed Sienna Taylor at No. 3, 6-2, 6-0. Arianna Kortum handled Ellie Damiani at No. 4, 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles, Cecilia DeFazio and Emma Eisemon won the No. 1 match over Georgia Compagno and Heidi Koch, 6-2, 6-4. Madeline Tran and Samantha Hyunh defeated Lauren Somerville and Lucia Tassone at No. 2, 6-1, 6-3. Inara Mehta and Abigail Call beat Natalie Martin and Ruby Pisaturo at No. 3, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
On Nov. 9, Piedmont beat visiting College Prep, 6-1. Kononova beat Angela Wang at No. 1 singles, 7-5, 6-0. Jumper beat Natalie Goldberg at No. 2, 6-1, 6-3. Kartum downed Gia Chhabra at No. 4, 6-4, 6-4. Sophia Bitton scored College Prep’s only point, beating Romanczuk at No. 3, 6-3, 6-1.
DeFazio and Eisemon beat Adele Beamer and Leah Luchansky at No. 1 doubles, 6-2, 7-5. Tran and Hyunh downed Makeda Faxio and Daphne Green at No. 2, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4. Mehta and Call defeated Ruoxi Zhu and Miriam Campbell at No. 3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
On Nov. 11, Piedmont hosted University in the semifinals and fell, 5-2. Kononva defeated Avery Fringer at No. 1, 6-4, 6-2. Kortum had the other point, winning the No. 4 singles match over Catherine Miao, 6-4, 6-4. Alison Conner beat Jumper at No. 2 (scores were unavailable) and Piper Lim defeated Romanczuk at No. 3, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
Alara Ozturk and Cece Erhart beat DeFazio and Eisemon at No. 1 doubles, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Carolina and Antonia Miller defeated Hyunh and an unknown player at No. 2, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Lauren Conner and Drew Taylor downed Call and Tran, 6-3, 7-5.
Kononova finished second in the West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division championships at Chabot College on Nov. 4, losing in the finals to Marakhtanova in the finals, 6-1, 6-0. Kononova received a first round bye, then won two matches to make the final.
Romanczuk was seeded fourth and won one match before losing to Marakhtanova in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-1. She finished fourth overall. Jumper and Kartum were seeded third in doubles but lost their opening match. DeFazio and
Eisemon were seeded fourth and also lost their opener. Tran and Hyuhn were unseeded but won their opening match before losing in the second round.