Stone Wins Second Title in a Row

North Hollywood senior Desiree Stone beat Katy Nikolova, a sophomore at Palisades, 6-4, 6-0, to win her second consecutive singles championship in the City Section girls’ tennis individual tournament Wednesday at Balboa Sports Complex in Encino.

Roxanne Plata fell short of winning her third doubles title in a row as Palisades’ Yasmir Navas and Lauren Pugatch held off a third-set comeback by the Granada Hills senior and her partner, Julia D’yachenko, to win, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

The top-seeded Stone overcame a 3-2 deficit to second-seeded Nikolova in the first set, breaking a 4-4 tie by going on to win eight consecutive games and close out the match.

“It’s a fantastic way to end it,” said Stone, who became the sixth player in the tournament’s 31-year history to win two singles titles in a row.

Plata, attempting to become the first City player to win three doubles titles, nearly overcame severe leg cramps. She and D’yachenko rallied from 4-1 and 5-2 deficits to tie the third set at 5-5, but Navas and Pugatch won the last two games for the victory.

-- Lauren Peterson