|
Congratulations to the Lady Pilots Tennis Team for pulling out the dramatic win in Monday's
season opener vs. Legacy. Following 2015's close 4-3 win, the Pilots knew that the re-match on the Tigers' turf would
be a difficult challenge. Adding to that challenge was the absence of 2 of the team's top-3 players. The Pilots
however, knew that they still had it in them, and that everyone needed to step up their game in order to fill that void. In
singles, Lizeth Manzano ran away with her match, 8-1, while Elaine Gomez won 7 of the first 8 games, before finally closing
it out 8-4 in a solid performance. Perhaps the most insprational play came from Juana Gomez whose off-season workouts
were severely limited by lingering/nagging injuries. In a rare singles appearance, Juana Gomez battled back from a 2-6
deficit to force a tie-break at 7-all. The tie-break proved to be an intense back-and-forth affair as the two opponents
battled over the course of a 22-point tie-break before Gomez finally succumbed. In doubles, newcomer Jazmine Andrade
teamed up with Laia Freeman as the pair made their career/varsity debuts to the beat of an impressive 8-0 shutout, while more
dramatics awaited the team. Although the Pilots had already secured 3 of the 4 matches necessary to come out on top
for the day, the aforementioned singles match was still quite in doubt and seemingly happening at the exact same instant that
Dahlia Castillo & Jazmin Cuevas were trying to produce their own comeback. After trailing 3-5, Castillo & Cuevas
reeled off 4 games in a row before failing to convert on 5 consecutive match-points. After the brief hiccup, however,
Castillo & Cuevas closed the door on their opponents winning 8-6 & securing their own individual win as well as the
overall team victory for the day. In JV/Exhibition action, the Pilots won all 3 completed matches with Kosonoy &
Negrete, as well as Baca & Gonzalez both winning 6-3, while freshman Kimberly Sebastian made her career debut & teamed
up with Jocelyn Correa for a 6-2 win. Great Job Pilots & Good Luck vs. Leuzinger next week!
|
