GHS girls tennis tops Live Oak to earn share of league crown
GILROY – Senior Tricia Pruss dedicated herself to tennis this season. The fourth-year player took off from her job to spend more time on the courts – working hard to improve her game.
So Pruss was all smiles after her and senior partner Katie Blomquist cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 in their No. 3 doubles bout to start the winning trend for Gilroy in Thursday’s 6-1 match victory over Live Oak to clinch a share of the T-CAL title with Notre Dame.
“She’s the best partner ever,” said Pruss of Blomquist. “It feels good after all this time for the team to have success. It’s been fun. I didn’t think about (winning the league title). It just happened and we’re happy for it. It’s the best thing.”
Pruss was one of nine seniors in the Lady Mustang line-up – which swept all three doubles bouts and claimed three of four singles bouts.
“I’m glad for all the girls. They played well,” said head coach Jennifer Yoder, whose squad finished 9-1 splitting the season series with Notre Dame for a tie atop the T-CAL Standings. “I don’t want to be co-champs. I want to be champs.”
Coach Yoder’s confidence in her senior-laden group warranted a phone call to T-CAL league representative Bill Scott – asking him if the Lady Mustangs could play Notre Dame for a third time to determine the champion. But this season anyway, there will be co-champions – which is a first for the Gilroy girls tennis program.
“These girls played tennis together for four years. I think they were hungry. They worked hard for four years and it paid off,” said Yoder, who noted before the season even started that her troops had a chance at the league crown. “It was just a feeling.”
The Lady Mustangs now head to the T-CAL Finals that will be held on Nov. 5-6 with the site still to be determined. Then, they await a Central Coast Section Playoff spot.
“That will be interesting,” said senior No. 2 singles Valerie Huang, who strolled to a 6-1, 6-1 victory and now tries her luck in the T-CALs. “Just basically try my best and see how far it takes me.”
Senior No. 4 singles Megan Leuchars completed her perfect 7-0 season with a 6-2, 6-2 victory to help the Lady Mustang cause.
“I was feeling really good,” Leuchars said. “We weren’t expecting anything. It just turned out awesome. It’s an exciting thing to get (the league title) and we’ll continue from here. The T-CALs are next.”
Senior No. 3 singles Mindy Marquez – who lost only one match this year – notched a 6-1, 6-3 victory to close out the T-CAL regular season.
“I had a lot of corner shots that helped me a lot,” Marquez said. “It was a lot of fun winning our games. The team is really a lot more together this year.”
In the top singles position, senior Catherine Wilson battled into a third set against Live Oak’s Mallarie Stevens – but she came up short, 3-6, 6-0, 5-7.
“I was very proud of Cat’s competitiveness,” Yoder said.
Gilroy’s top duo of seniors Amy Thomas and Alicia Shurley won in three sets, while the No. 2 tandem of senior Jackie Morales and junior Anna Nguyen registered a 6-0, 6-1 win.
“I was kinda sad it was our last game. It went by too fast,” Nguyen said.
