Girls tennis team smacked around Gilroy 7-0 this week
Despite the absence of former league champion Danielle Burke in
the lineup this year, San Benito High tennis coach Ed Cecena
believes that his roster still has enough fire power to vie for a
league title even without the junior standout, who opted to leave
the squad shortly after the season began.
”
I guess she felt that high school tennis just wasn’t helping her
out,
”
said the Baler coach.
”
She just decided to go her own direction. But we’re going to be
okay. We’ll still be pretty strong in league.
”
Girls tennis team smacked around Gilroy 7-0 this week
Despite the absence of former league champion Danielle Burke in the lineup this year, San Benito High tennis coach Ed Cecena believes that his roster still has enough fire power to vie for a league title even without the junior standout, who opted to leave the squad shortly after the season began.
“I guess she felt that high school tennis just wasn’t helping her out,” said the Baler coach. “She just decided to go her own direction. But we’re going to be okay. We’ll still be pretty strong in league.”
Without Burke, the Balers will forge ahead with the same starting lineup that had no problem ousting Gilroy High by a 7-0 margin on Tuesday afternoon at Ridgemark.
“Our team is improving all the time,” said Cecena, after seeing his team rebound from a 7-0 shutout a week prior against league powerhouse Notre Dame. “It was good for us to get on a winning track again against Gilroy.”
The Balers are currently 1-1 in league play and 3-4 overall. Last season the Balers finished third in the league behind champion Salinas and second-place finisher Notre Dame. Against the Mustangs, things went well from start to finish for San Benito High.
In singles play, the Balers new No. 1 player Amanda Marshall, who played in the No. 2 slot when Burke was on the team, wasted no time defeating Gilroy’s Amy Huang 6-0, 6-2.
So far this season Marshall, a sophomore, is 3-2 in singles play and seems to be improving each time she steps on the court.
On an adjacent court to Marshall, her teammate, sophomore Abby Woods, the Balers No. 2 player beat Gilroy’s Emily Castro in straights sets as well, winning the first set 6-4 and the second 6-2.
“She’s really a good athlete from a tennis family, and she seems to be improving everyday out there,” Cecena said.
The Balers made it a clean sweep in singles action when No. 3 player Lizzy Gato ousted Gilroy’s Gories Kwong 6-2, 6-1, and No. 4 player Rebecca Williams came through for the Balers with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Gilroy’s Cherilyn Christian.
“Lizzy and Rebecca are both real similar players. They both played softball and are just tremendous athletes. They’ve both picked up the game real well and they know how to compete.”
In doubles play the Balers kept the positive momentum going, winning all three matches.
About the only close match of the afternoon was the No. 1 doubles match that pitted San Benito’s Michelle Rovella and Marisa Ibarra against Gilroy’s Holly Hunter and Karissa Tolles.
The San Benito team won the first set 6-3 and then lost the second 4-6 before a gut-wrenching third set tiebreaker was decided 11-9 in favor of the Balers.
“They make a great team,” Cecena said. “Michelle is good at pumping up her teammates, and Marisa is just a natural athlete.”
During the softball season Ibarra was the Balers No. 1 pitcher and had one of the most outstanding seasons of any freshman athlete in all of the Central Coast Section.
Two other softball players make up the Balers No. 2 doubles team. On Tuesday, the team of Elena Fata and Rachel Maheu had no problem stopping Gilroy’s Anneliese Zelina and Alyssa Castro by scores of 6-2, 6-3.
“The two of them are also very good athletes,” Cecena said. “They have lost only one match the whole year. They just are picking things up real well.”
In the final doubles match of the day San Benito’s Crystal Perreira and Yumi Chang made things looks easy against Gilroy’s Natalie Toews and Rina Alvarado. Like their teammates in the No. 2 match, the Baler No. 3 team won in straights sets too – this time by scores of 6-1, 6-2.
On Thursday after press time the Balers played host to North Salinas. Next week, the Balers will have back-to-back road matches against Alvarez on Tuesday and Aptos on Thursday before they come home on Sept. 28 to host Alisal at 3:30 p.m.
“We’re a young team and we’re learning as we go along,” Cecena said. “We have a lot of good athletes that want to learn the game. And since we only have two seniors on this team, I think we have a good future ahead of us.”
