GILROY—As the sun was setting Tuesday evening, the No. 3 doubles teams from Christopher and San Benito were still battling it out. All the other matches had ended with each team winning three apiece. The fate of the contest rested squarely on the shoulders of Cougars Allison Ramirez and Camryn Crowley—and they rose to the challenge.
The Cougar duo held off their San Benito counterparts, Kaylee Hansen and Vivian Hernandez, to win 6-4, 6-2 and lift Christopher to a 4-3 victory over its neighbors to the south.
“I was just thinking ‘don’t mess up,’” Ramirez said. “They kept hitting right on the line, the double alley, so those were hard to get to.”
Christopher jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 1, but the Balers battled back to get within a point at 5-4. The Cougars secured the set point as Ramirez’s hit forced her San Benito opponent to hit out of bounds.
“We wanted to let them the mistakes,” Crowley said. “They were looking confident the entire time as well.”
Coaches, teammates, parents, fans from both teams—and even the passing Cougar football squad—watched intently as the No.3s battled their way through Set 2.
Christopher’s shot went over the fence and into the stands to give San Benito game point to take a 1-0 lead. The Cougars rebounded and held San Benito scoreless, building a 2-1 lead.
San Benito took another game to stay in the match at 5-2, but hit the ball out on set point to fall to the Cougars.
“It was the most nerve-wracking game I’ve ever played,” Crowley said with a laugh “(I feel) relieved now that it’s over.”
The No.3 team’s win completed the sweep of doubles competition for the Cougars.
Toni Martinez and Samantha Ramirez, the No. 1 team, won their match 6-4, 6-4. The No. 2 team of Kelly Nantais and Cher Choi needed an extra set to decide the winner, but pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 win.
No. 3 Niet Khay notched the lone singles win 6-2, 6-4 over San Benito’s Julia Pearson. The Cougar had to work for her wins, engaging in long rallies with her Baler counterpart. Khay, a former gymnast, put her endurance and flexibility to the test as she stretched to cover the court.
Pearson took an early 2-1 lead in Set 2. The duo exchanged leads until Khay jumped ahead 5-4 and never looked back.
“It was a really close game and she was really great. I thought I might’ve had to go to a tiebreaker, but it turns out I won,” Khay said. “In that second set, I was just thinking ‘keep fighting for it. Just keep pushing for it. It’ll be over soon,’ so I just kept going.”
San Benito’s No. 1 Jessica KIrschmann topped Syndey Tran 6-2, 6-0, while Kaitlyn Lombardo, Christopher No. 2, fell 6-4, 6-0 to Megan Hurley. The Balers’ Heidi Bribiesca handed No. 4 singles player Malia Campos a 7-6, 6-1 loss.
“We had our ups and downs,” Coach head coach Patrick McBrearty said. “Our No. 3 doubles came through like champs today and that was key.”
Christopher (5-5 overall) looks to extend its two-game win streak when it takes on the Eagles at 4 p.m. Thursday at Everett Alvarez.
