Tehachapi upsets No. 1 seed to win Div. III title
| Thursday, Nov 06 2008 11:56 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 02:19 PM
HANFORD -- Tehachapi High School stole Cinderella's slipper and got the prince as well.
The No. 3 seed Warriors won four of six singles matches Thursday to power past top-seeded Hanford West 7-2 and claim the Central Section Division III girls tennis championship.
The victory was decisive -- only one match went to a tiebreaker.
"We had a lot of depth we could rely on," Tehachapi coach Amy Lewis said. "Each year, we've become a better team. By far, this was best team I've had."
This is Tehachapi's first team title since the 1980s, Lewis said.
Seven-year-old Hanford West was 0-22 last year. So coach Marc Herron could put a happy face on things.
"I'm very proud of them. This is one of the best teams I've ever coached," he said. "None of the girls quit. We have nothing to hang our heads about."
Tehachapi, with six seniors in the lineup, was simply too much for the Huskies.
The Warriors, who went 8-2 in South Sequoia League play, with their only losses coming to Bakersfield Christian, swept the middle four of the six singles matches, all in straight sets.
Tehachapi's Katja Thacker beat Jessica Stein 6-0, 6-0; Hanna Trott beat Gabi Pascual 6-1, 6-1; Chelsea Maduena beat Miranda Banuelos 6-1,6-2; and Nicki Miller downed Veronica Vasquez 6-3, 6-2.
Hanford West won the top and bottom spots on the ladder, with Maryann Kong defeating Abby Gray 6-3, 6-4 and Melanie Reynolds beating Bailey Hutchinson 6-4, 6-1.
The Warriors needed to win only one of the three remaining doubles matches but swept all three.
Gray and Trott defeated Kong and Vanessa Hernandez 6-2, 6-1; Madena and Desiree Ortiz defeated Reynolds and Banuelos 6-2, 6-2; and Melody Henderson and Katy Burford beat Pascual and Stephanie Garcia 6-1, 1-6, 10-4.
