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Congratulations to the Lady Pilots Tennis Team. After
a tough roll through the Marine League, the Pilots ended up with a 5-5 record in league play, 6-6 including two non-league
matches. Among the disappointments, were two losses to Narbonne & a surprising loss to San Pedro, causing doubt
as to whether the Pilots' streak of consecutive playoff appearances might be over at 3. However, with the Pilots taking
down Co-Southern League Champs, Contreras, by a 6-1 score, and the close 3-4 loss to undefeated Carson, there was enough
reason to propell Banning into their 4th consecutive trip to the playoffs. Adding to the unexpected news was the fact
that the Pilots were announced as the #5 seed in the L.A. C.I.F. City Section - Invitational Division, where they'll host
#12 Franklin on Wednesday 11/4/09 at 1:00pm. This is now the 2nd consecutive year that the Lady Pilots carry Home-Court
advantage in the 1st round & ties the team's highest seeding in the tournament in recent memory. In further developments, regarding the fate of the team's top players, the Pilots also
received some more unexpected & historic news in the L.A. C.I.F. City Section Individual Doubles Championships, set to
begin on Friday 11/20/09 at the Balboa Tennis Center. Out of close to 500 doubles players city-wide, only the top 56
tandems are selected for the tournament. Adding to the elite status of such selection is that with the expansion of
the L.A. C.I.F. City Section to 9 leagues, all leagues are only guaranteed 5 entries, for an average of just under 1 doubles
squad per team in each league. So, it came as incredibly welcome news that the Lady Pilots are actually sending 8 of
their 10 regular starters to the tournament. Kathy Ngo & Sandra Medina, Victoria Martinez & Patty Ledesma,
Melissa Garibay & Rebeca Rodriguez, as well as Jamie Vasquez & Lizbeth Medina will all be representing the Pilots
in the doubles tournament in Encino, CA. In addition,
there was another historic "first" within that news. For the first time, perhaps in Banning Tennis history,
the Pilots' top tandem of Kathy Ngo & Sandra Medina were seeded among the top 8 teams in the entire section, granting
them a 1st round bye & automatic advancement into the 2nd round. Awesome Job Pilots, and Good Luck vs. Franklin on Wednesday & to all 4 doubles teams in the individual tournament
later this month!
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