Garces sends 3 to individual semifinals

BCHS pair also moves on

Defending doubles champions Jocie Sala and Kylee Limpias from Garces advanced to today’s Central Section individual girls tennis semifinals with a pair of straightset victories on Friday.

The sophomore Sala and junior Limpias, the top-seeded doubles team, defeated No. 16 Miah Leal and Breanna Garcia from Visalia-El Diamante 6-1, 6-0, in their opening match of the day, and then cruised past No. 9 Madeline Craft and Kayley Juinio from Clovis North, 6-1, 6-1 in Friday’s first day action at Garces.

The Rams’ dynamic duo will play No. 5 Laura Hioe and Alina Shiekh of Clovis-Buchanan in today’s 9 a.m. semifinal match. Sala and Limpias defeated Hioe and Shiekh, 6-0, 6-0 on Thursday to clinch the Rams’ 6-3 semifinal victory in the D-I team playoffs.

Bakersfield Christian’s Breanna Hiebert and Hannah Kratt, who finished third in the section in the spring, also advanced to the D-I semifinals. The No. 2-seeded tandem defeated No. 15 Sierra Weisenberger and Ellie Mauck from Porterville, 6-0, 6-1, and then beat No. 7 Naomi Pavletich and Kiana Lua from Liberty, 6-0, 6-1.

Hiebert and Kratt will play No. 6 Alex Caprau and Chloe Jordan from San Luis Obispo at 9 a.m. today. Caprau and Jordan upset No. 3 Camryn Newland and Kali Nishimine from Clovis West in their semifinal match.

Liberty’s No. 2 doubles team, featuring Kailani Lua and Dilan Cook, had a strong showing and fell just short of advancing to the semifinals. The No. 13-seeded Lua and Cook, upset No. 4 Hannah Minnery and Hannah Gill from San Luis Obispo in their opening match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and then took Hioe and Shiekh to three sets before falling, 6-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Lua and Cook had two match points in the second set, but were unable to close out the match.

In singles play, Garces sophomore Kelsey Abraham advanced to Saturday’s Final Four in D-I with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Natalie Roush of Clovis East. Abraham, the No. 3 seed, defeated Santa Maria-St. Joseph’s Mia Parker, 6-0, 6-1 in her opening match.

Abraham will play No. 2 Anushya Jayakumar from Clovis North in today’s 9 a.m. semifinal.

Stockdale’s Lauren Li, the No. 5 seed, was eliminated in the quarterfinals after suffering a 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 4 Micajuliana Lundberg from St. Joseph.

Li defeated junior Taylor Crider of Garces, the No. 12 seed, in the first round, 6-1, 6-0. Lundberg defeated No. 13 Natalie Tun from Centennial in her opening match, 6-1, 6-2.