Two years ago, the Liberty High girls tennis team reached the CIF Central Section Division I semifinals but lost to Garces. Last year, the Patriots took the next step and reached the Division I final only to have San Luis Obispo win 6-3.
So, on Tuesday, what happened when Liberty, the top seed in Division I, hosted No. 2 San Luis Obispo in the division final? The final result wasn’t a championship, but Liberty got a little bit closer, falling 5-4 to the Tigers in a very competitive battle.
Case in point: Liberty had led the overall score 4-3 with two singles matches still in play.
Kara Campoy and Audrey Conover had a very well-played match at No. 2 singles in one that had contrasting styles. Campoy gets to every shot and likes to slow the pace while Conover is a big hitter and strikes the ball well, even on her second serve.
The two battled for three sets with several volleys until one shot was just enough to get past a player or Conover, who tried often to get a big hit that somehow Campoy reached for the return.
Conover outlasted Campoy, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5 and 10-4 in the third set, first-to-10-point tiebreaker.
“She fights to the end for everything,” said Liberty coach Chris Campoy, who is Kara Campoy’s grandfather. “Even if she wasn’t my granddaughter, the fight that’s in her and in my other players, to give it everything they’ve got, I’m so proud of them.”
As soon as that match ended, Liberty’s No. 6 singles player, Olivia Castillo, was also in a battle that went to the third-set tiebreaker. Castillo won her first set 7-5, dropped the second 6-4 and SLO’s Scarlett Mellinger pulled away in the tiebreaker 10-5.
After the match, the Tigers players rushed to the far court and celebrated Mellinger’s victory and the team championship for the second year in a row.
Things looked good early for Liberty as it took two of three doubles matches for the early 2-1 lead. Hayden Gehring and Campoy won 8-3 over SLO’s Conover sisters, Marley and Audrey. The Patriots’ No. 3 team of Emily Cove and Maddie Power scored an 8-3 win as well. The Tigers’ Sedona Bitler and Natalie Testerman defeated Liberty’s No. 2 of Jili Soriano and Kaitlyn Rucks 8-2 to get SLO on the board.
Gehring won her match at No. 1 singles, over Marley Conover, 6-2, 6-2 and Emily Cove’s 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles against Sofia Peinado gave Liberty a 4-2 lead. SLO’s Natalie Testerman won at No. 3 singles 6-2, 6-0 over Jili Soriano and Bitler defeated Emma Webdell 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles to tie the match.
“It’s a great two-year run to the finals,” Chris Campoy said. “Two years in a row to the finals and that’s a great team we played. But I’m just so proud of our team.”
Division III
No. 1 seed Lompoc 7, No. 2 seed East 2
The Blades got wins at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles, but the host Braves won the division championship and handed East (30-1) its first team loss of the season.
East’s Annye Rodarte won her singles match in three sets, 6-4, 2-6 and a 10-6 victory over Lompoc’s Lola Soukup in the third set in which the first player to 10 points, but must win by two, wins the set and match.
In doubles, the Blades’ third team of Joselin Sandoval and Aimee Guerrero won convincingly 8-3 over Rebecca Sandoval and Azra Perez.
Lompoc took its two doubles wins at 8-1 and 8-2 and needed only three to clinch, but Lompoc and East played through. Gia Gutierrez put up a fight in her loss at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-4 to Lompoc’s Mia Jansen.
“The better team won today, but I couldn’t be prouder of my team,” East High coach Marty Martinez said. “They gave everything they had and there’s nothing wrong with losing when you do that. What this team accomplished in just their second year as tennis players is amazing to say the least. They are all truly overachievers.”
Division IV
No. 1 Chavez 5, No. 3 Shafter 4
The Titans topped the Generals to capture the Division IV championship in a match played at Chavez High in Delano.
The title win marks a breakthrough for the Chavez girls tennis program in the team division final. The Titans lost in the Division V championship match to Golden Valley in 2022 and last season, Chavez moved up to Division IV and fell 7-2 to Firebaugh in that championship match.
As a result of its championship win, Chavez advanced to the CIF Southern California Team Regionals on Nov. 22-23 to be played at the Claremont Club.
