No Strength in Numbers for BHHS Girls Tennis

"An exodus of mass proportions" is how Beverly Hills High girls tennis head coach Mike Margolin described the bizarre circumstances that caused his roster to shrink from 15 players to 10 by the time fall classes began.

The Normans lost five players to graduation last year, including Margolin's daughter Megan, who was the captain as a senior. Players graduate every year, that's a given. What Margolin didn't count on, however, was four of his top returning players not coming back and a fifth player suffering a season-ending injury a few weeks ago. 

"Every week, I've had a new No. 1 because for one reason or other, someone left the team," said Margolin, starting his 10th season as the girls tennis coach. "I've never had this happen before. Here I was thinking we'd have a team strong enough to compete for a CIF title and now it's a situation where if one more girl gets injured or misses a match we won't have enough players to fill the lineup card."

The Normans hosted perennial power Harvard-Westlake in a practice match last Thursday and managed only one point in the round robin  format—when sophomore Miriam Binman and junior Allison Lee won their second doubles set.

"It's not just that we've lost some of our players, it's that we've lost our best players," Margolin said. "I've even told our team manager [Aizhan Duiseneyeva] that she may have to play."

Beverly Hills defeated Santa Monica to win the Ocean League last season before losing on games to Santa Barbara in the first round of the CIF playoffs. Margolin said unless he can find two or three more girls he won't have a junior varsity team.    

"I hear Santa Monica is down, but they don't know how many players we're missing," Margolin said. "I think they have to be considered the favorite at this point. The players I have, though, are working hard and eager to learn."

The Normans open the season Tuesday at Brentwood. Rounding out their non-league matches are Marlborough, Mira Costa, Palisades, Peninsula and a rematch with Harvard-Westlake. 

2011 BHHS GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS SCHEDULE

Sept. 13—at Brentwood, 3 p.m.

Sept. 20—at Marlborough, 3:30 p.m.

Sept. 22—vs. Palisades, 3 p.m.

Sept. 27—at Mira Costa, 3 p.m.

Oct. 4—vs. Morningside, 3 p.m.

Oct. 5—vs. Peninsula, 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 6—vs. Inglewood, 3 p.m.

Oct. 11—at Santa Monica, 3 p.m.

Oct. 13—vs. Culver City, 3 p.m.

Oct. 19—at Harvard-Westlake, 4 p.m.

Oct. 20—at Morningside, 3 p.m.

Oct. 25—at Inglewood, 3 p.m.

Oct. 26—vs. Santa Monica, 3 p.m.

Oct. 31—at Culver City, 3 p.m.

Nov. 2 & 3—Ocean League Tournament, 11 a.m.

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