CHS falls in semis

They say that all good things must come to pass and for the Corcoran High School girls’ tennis team that day of reckoning was last Tuesday at the hands of the Royals who came to town and walked away with a convincing 7-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the Division 3 playoffs. Corcoran had not lost a match since October 2015 when it was edged by Chowchilla in the semifinals of that year’s Division 4 playoffs. Since that loss, the Panthers had reeled off consecutive undefeated valley titles and three consecutive undefeated East Sequoia League titles.
Last Tuesday, Mission Prep won lopsided victories in #2 singles as Izzy Marshall was too much for Monika Alvarado, winning 6-0, 6-2. Court four saw a similar outcome as Bella David whipped Daniela Bravo, 6-1, 6-1. Maggie Arellano and Edith Aguilera both lost tiebreakers in the number one and number five singles matches before succumbing to Avery Muester and Summer Peterson. Winning singles matches for the Panthers were Nayeli Beas at number three singles, 6-2, 6-3, over Kat Batha and Michell Oregel at number six singles, 7-5, 6-4, over Kaylyn Continente.
Down 2-4 going into doubles, the Panthers would need a clean sweep to win the match and keep their streak alive. The Royals would have none of that as Muester and Marshall blitzed Bravo and Arellano, 0-6, 0-6 in number one doubles. Giselle Pelayo and Jizzel Nunez also went quietly at number three doubles, 1-6, 4-6. The number two doubles tandem of Alvarado and Beas put up a gallant fight but fell in a tiebreaker, 0-6, 6-1, 6-10.
The Panthers end their season with 14 wins and one loss. Although the quarterfinals defeat was not what the team wanted, the season was a resounding success, according to Coach Rob Lerma.
“I define this year as a huge success when you consider that this team won another league title going undefeated after losing 75 percent of its starting lineup from the previous year. This team had all kinds of holes to fill and our squad did a fabulous job of playing competitive tennis and bringing home another league championship. As per this year’s seniors, I am humbled to have coached our two leaders, Maggie Arellano and Nayeli Beas who both played integral parts in two consecutive undefeated valley titles. I believe Maggie Arellano is the only person in our school’s history that can make the claim of being part of four consecutive girls tennis league titles,” Lerma said.