Cardinals fall 9-0 to Tigers
Even in their 9-0 loss to Woodlake at home Wednesday afternoon, Lindsay High School’s girls tennis team showed the major steps they’ve made over the last couple of East Sequoia League matches.
First-year head coach Isaias Cabrera said the team haa gone from losing matches 9-0 with players not winning a single game at the beginning season, to coming close to getting wins in 5-4 losses to Sierra Pacific and Strathmore. Despite Wednesday’s loss, those improvements showed and there were several matches where Lindsay (0-7 ESL) held leads for some time.
In the No. 6 singles match Lindsay’s Rufina Galvez kept things the closest in an 8-6 loss while No. 2 Bernice Lemus started off strong with a 4-1 lead before falling 7-5 to her opponent. Both No. 4 Carolina Jimenez and No. 5 Nayeli Martinez were ahead 2-1 to start before losing 8-2 and 8-3, respectively.
Also for Lindsay, No. 1 Maria Martinez lost 8-1 while No. 3 Gisselle Chavez lost 8-4.
Doubles went similarly for the Cardinals with No. 3 Joanna Martinez and Daisy Lemus starting the match close before an 8-4 loss. In the No. 2 match Chavez and Jimenez started up 3-0 but lost 8-5 while Martinez and Bernice Lemus lost the No. 1 match 8-3.
“Compared to the past five years when we’d lose 0-9 straight through the season we’ve improved a lot,” Cabrera said. “Even the other coaches are telling us that. The Corcoran coach told us we looked 1,000 percent better.”
Corcoran’s undefeated in league and one of the toughest teams in the ESL as well as the Valley with the Panthers winning the CIF Central Section Division IV championship last season. When Lindsay faced Corcoran the first time this season, they lost nearly every match without winning a game but in Monday’s 9-0 loss to the Panthers, Cabrera said the team won a couple of games.
Lindsay’s next match is a 4 p.m. ESL contest against Granite Hills (2-6 ESL). It will also be Senior Night for the Cardinals.
Strathmore 5 Granite Hills 4
Up 4-2 after singles, Strahmore High School girls tennis pulled off a 5-4 win over Granite Hills Wednesday afternoon on the road in an East Sequoia League match.
For the Spartans (5-3 ESL) in singles, No. 2 Hennasey Mendoza won 8-4, No. 3 Taylor Simo-
nich won 8-1, No. 5 Abby Miller won 8-5 and No. 6 Lauren Leyva won 8-0. The No. 3 doubles team of Elizabeth Fisher and Daniela Dela Cruz won their match 8-2 to secure the win for Strathmore.
Wins came for Granite Hills (2-6 ESL) with No. 1 Kellyann Whited winning 8-5 and No. 4 Deissy Vargas winning 8-6 in their singles matches. In doubles, Whited and Leelu Amparano won the No. 1 match 8-5 while Vargas and Sar Lor won the No. 2 match 8-3.
Porterville 6 Mission Oak 3
Porterville High School girls tennis defeated Mission Oak 6-3 Wednesday in an East Yosemite League match on the road.
In singles, No. 3 Sierra Mitchel won 6-2, 6-4; No. 4 Erica Palad won 6-0, 6-1; No. 5 Jewelia Maniss won 6-2, 6-1; and No. 6 Lizbeth Martinez won 6-0, 7-5. No. 1 Vanessa Madrigal lost her first set 6-3 then won her second set 6-4 and the tiebreaker 10-6.
The Panthers’ lone win in doubles came from their No. 2 duo of Mitchel and Palad. The two won theri match 8-2.
Porterville is now in a first-place tie with Tulare Western. Both teams have a 5-1 EYL record and face off in Tulare on Monday, Oct. 1.