Flying high 5
| Tuesday, Nov 03 2009 09:33 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Nov 03 2009 09:33 PM
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Casey Christi / The Californian BCHS tennis player, Lyndsay Cooke serves to her opponent, from Fowler, Harneet Virk, during Tuesday's Girls tennis Division V section champshionships in Bakersfield.
BCHS tennis player, Chelby Cooke, hits a shot back to her opponent from Fowler High, Veronica Almendarez, during Tuesday's girls tennis Division V section championships at Bakersfield Christian.
Casey Christi / The Californian Number one hitter for Bakersfield Christian High School, Lyndsay Cooke, returns a shot to her opponent, Harneet Virk, of Fowler High School, Tuesday at BCHS during the Divison V girls tennis section championships.
Timing was everything for Bakersfield Christian's top two girls tennis players Tuesday.
In matches delayed for 45 minutes after Fowler High arrived late, sisters Lyndsay and Chelby Cooke made short work of their opponents -- and added a little friendly competition along the way.
After taking control of their matches early, the sisters turned their focus on one another playing on neighboring courts, and the race was on -- to see who could win their match first.
Chelby, a sophomore, took the honors Tuesday, needing just 25 minutes to dispose of Veronica Almendarez, 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 singles match. Thirteen minutes later, senior No. 1 Lyndsay finished off Harneet Virk, 6-0, 6-0, and No. 1 BCHS was well on its way to a fifth straight Central Section Division V title.
"We play that game a little bit," Lyndsay said. "It's good to challenge yourself through out the match, try to lose as few points as you can and give yourself some little goals to meet."
The top-seeded Eagles (23-1) won all six singles matches by a 6-0, 6-0 score and then won two of three doubles matches for an 8-1 victory over the No. 2 Redcats (22-2).
"(Fowler) is a good team and they compete well," BCHS coach Frank Thiessen said. "They've had a good year, but we're just playing at a higher level."
Bakersfield Christian has reached the final all seven years the program has been in existence. The Eagles finished runnerup in their first two appearances.
"I play all my matches pretty much the same so it doesn't really matter who I'm playing," Chelby said. "We have really high expectations for our team and we know we can win, so we don't leave much room for losing."
Lyndsay wasted little time jumping ahead of Virk, keeping her off balance with an array of powerful serves and cross-court winners.
After cruising through the first five games, Virk went up 40-love, moving one point from taking a game.
But Lyndsay fought off four game-points and eventually won the game -- and the set -- on an unforced error.
The Eagles senior then opened the next set with three straight aces and eventually closed out the game on another unforced error by Virk.
"I did not want to lose the game," Lyndsay said. "I was trying to keep my serve consistent. That was basically my focus since there wasn't a lot of long rallies."
In addition to the Cooke sisters, Lily Schuler, Carolyn Stevens, Janelle Fivecoat and Melissa Merrill swept to 6-0, 6-0 victories in singles play, clinching the title before doubles play even started.
"It feels excellent," Lyndsay said. "I'm so happy and proud of my team."
