DAVIS, Calif. – The tandem of senior Arden Garcia and freshman Lena Mundhenk advanced to the consolation final of the championship bracket to lead four St. Francis doubles pairings at the Sierra Foothill League girls' tennis doubles championship at Davis Senior High School Thursday.

The Garcia/Mundhenk duo joined senior Litzy Alengaden and junior Ava Ensberg in the main draw, the team of Ava Dezham and Nura Fananapazir represented the Troubadours in the 'B' bracket, while Katharina Gensler and Ana Stamatis combined forces as an entry in a round-robin 'C' pool.

Unfortunately for St. Francis, both Championship bracket teams went up against the league's top two seeds to open the tourney. Garcia and Mundhenk fell to Del Oro's Ashley Rowland and Avery Phillips, while the Alengaden/Ensberg team ran into even worse luck: not only did they face No. 2 Hannah Proctor and I.N. Hwang of Davis in the first round, but also Rocklin's third-seeded team of Rishika Bhutani and Aarya Sharma Vats, which fell to the backdraw after losing a 13-11 tiebreaker to the Granite Bay pairing of Rebecca Gehlmann and Katie Smith.

Garcia and Mundhenk bounced back from a "double bagel" loss the the Golden Eagles with an 8-5 win over Rocklin's Melanie Hildenbrand and Ella Pizzuti.

Overall, many of the league schools combined their top two singles players to form an all-star doubles team in Thursday's event: Sharma Vats and Bhutani for the Thunder, Rowland and Phillips for the Golden Eagles, Proctor and Hwang for the Blue Devils. The exception among the four seeds was the second Davis team, as No. 4 Lea Lamoureaux and Ana Palmbaum paired up at No. 1 doubles throughout the dual season.

Rowland-Phillips (DO), Proctor/Hwang (Davis) and Gehlmann/Smith (GB) finished as the top three on Thursday, earning spots in the Sac-Joaquin Section individual tourney at Johnson Ranch on November 7 and 8.

The SFL doubles tournament continued the postseason portion of the schedule for St. Francis, which was announced as the No. 5 seed in the CIF-SJS Division I team bracket earlier on Thursday. The Troubies will host 12th-seeded Modesto on Monday at Rollingwood YMCA.

2024 SIERRA FOOTHILL LEAGUE DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Davis Senior High School (Davis, Calif.)
St. Francis matches only

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET - FIRST ROUND
Ashley Rowland/Avery Phillips (Del Oro) def. Arden García/Lena Mundhenk (SF), 6-0, 6-0
Hannah Proctor/I.N. Hwang (Davis) def. Litzy Alengaden/Ava Ensberg (SF), 6-1, 6-3

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET - CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL
Arden García/Lena Mundhenk (SF) def. Melanie Hildenbrand/Ella Pizzuti (Rocklin), 8-5
Rishika Bhutani/Aarya Sharma Vats (Rocklin) def. Litzy Alengaden/Ava Ensberg (SF), 8-2

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET - CONSOLATION FINAL
Rishika Bhutani/Aarya Sharma Vats (Rocklin) def. Arden García/Lena Mundhenk (SF), score TBA

'B' BRACKET - FIRST ROUND
Morgan Laugenour/Elena Burke (Del Oro) def. Ava Dezham/Nura Fananapazir (SF), 6-2, 7-5

'B' BRACKET - CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL
Ava Dezham/Nura Fananapazir advanced via bye

'B' BRACKET - CONSOLATION FINAL
Caitlyn Stosen/Brianna Poll (DO) def. Ava Dezham/Nura Fananapazir (SF), 6-4, 6-4

'C' BRACKET ROUND ROBIN
Katharina Gensler/Ana Stamatis (SF) def. Ada Nazneen/Izzy Tombo (Rocklin), 6-2, 6-3
Mikayla Avila/Aubrie Holhous (Del Oro) def. Katharina Gensler/Ana Stamatis (SF), 6-1, 6-4
Samyu Bandi/Akshaya Swaminathan (Rocklin) vs. Katharina Gensler/Ana Stamatis (SF), result unavailable