Lady Mustang tennis sweeps Hollister, 7-0; Notre Dame awaits for
Thursday’s showdown
GILROY – The Gilroy High girls tennis team was well aware of the immediate task – winning all seven bouts in Tuesday’s seventh straight league victory over Hollister – but the Lady Mustangs had another foe fresh on their minds.
In two days, undefeated Gilroy has a chance to seal its first T-CAL title with a match win over defending champion Notre Dame – which the locals beat on their home courts by a slim 4-3 margin. Thursday’s match shifts to the Salinas Golf & Country Club – the home court of the Lady Spirits.
“The only ones who are going to beat them is themselves, not Notre Dame,” head coach Jennifer Yoder said. “It’s good to have a team like Hollister to warm us up for Thursday. It only helped us.”
The Lady Mustangs played without their top singles player, senior Catherine Wilson – who sat out the match due to a knee injury. Wilson is expected to be ready for Thursday’s showdown for the T-CAL title. If Gilroy loses and both teams win out, then the two will share the league championship.
“(Wilson) will be back hopefully Thursday to play. We’re going to need a full line-up,” Yoder said. “I’m very confident with these girls going into the match.”
Senior No. 1 Valerie Huang stepped up for a 6-4, 6-3 victory and senior No. 2 Mindy Marquez cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 straight-sets win.
“(My game) was OK. I tried my best… My passing shots (were working well), I had her running all over the court,” said Huang, who will most likely drop to the No. 2 singles spot against Notre Dame if Wilson can go. “(The match against Notre Dame) will be interesting. It can go either way really. All our team has to do is do its best.”
Senior Megan Leuchars registered a 6-0, 6-3 victory in the No. 3 singles position, while junior Tasha LoPorto strolled to a 6-4, 6-0 decision.
“I had a good game today. My confidence level was really good,” Leuchars said. “I’m a lot more calm and focused. We had a really good warm-up beforehand and that made all the difference.”
In doubles action, the top tandem of seniors Amy Thomas and Alicia Shurley notched a 6-2, 6-4 win; the No. 2 unit of senior Jackie Morales and junior Anna Nguyen claimed a 7-5, 6-1 victory; and the No. 3 duo of Trisha Press and Katie Blomquist won a 6-3, 6-2 decision.
“We played really good today. I feel we’re really rolling,” Blomquist said. “I think we’re going to do real good (against Notre Dame). We worked really hard so we’re going to come out and pull it off.”
The decisive match begins at 3:30 p.m. in Salinas.
