First loss ends season for Vanden girls tennis team
FAIRFIELD — After achieving essentially all preseason goals, it’s hard to be disappointed with a loss in the postseason.
After missing the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the Solano County Athletic League last fall, the Vanden High girls tennis team roared through the regular season unbeaten before falling 6-3 to Del Oro of Loomis on the Vikings’ wind-swept courts on Tuesday.
“I feel like my girls left everything on the court,” Vanden coach Stan Lewis said. “That’s all you can do, right?”
The Vikings, who finished the season, which included the SCAC title, with an 18-1 record, knew they’d have a tough time with Golden Eagles of the rugged Sierra Foothill League. That made the loss easier to take.
“It was a good day,” Lewis said. “The girls are pretty excited. They met every goal. We wanted to make the playoffs, which they did. We wanted to win league, which they did. We wanted to go undefeated (in the regular season), which they did. Anything from that point would be gravy.”
The Vikings dropped the first four singles matches with Brenda Louie’s three-set loss at No. 3 the closest of the bunch.
Jaleena Hust rebounded from a poor second set to earn a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles over Brooke McDonough.
Hust, a sophomore, said the keys were “just keeping the ball on the court, and when I was down, not feeling pressure. Keeping calm, and stuff.”
Vanden also won the last singles match as Aishlynn Webb rallied to defeat Ashley Brenning 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-1 at No. 6.
“It’s all a matter of doing your best,” said Webb, a junior, “not hanging your head, not letting yourself go. Keep playing, play for every single point.”
Vanden’s other victory came at No. 1 doubles where seniors Tulsi Patel and Britney Marquez wrapped up their time with the Vikings with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 triumph.
“I didn’t want to end my years on a bad note,” Patel said. “I wanted to represent our team and fight every point out.”
Likewise, Marquez looked at the bigger picture. “Winning league and going undefeated was the best way I could’ve gone out,” she said.
Losing just four seniors, Lewis is looking forward to 2012.
“We’re going to be very good next year again,” he said. “Hopefully, we got good playoff experience playing against a good team.”
Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646 Ext. 264 or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net.
Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=103369
Posted by Paul Farmer
on Nov 1 2011.
Filed under Featured Sports, High school, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
