Sophomore Jessica Vest’s win at the No. 4 singles position
Tuesday clinched San Benito’s match with Gilroy, 4-3
GILROY
San Benito girls tennis coach Ed Cecena says his team got by Gilroy “with the skin of our teeth” on Tuesday, as they narrowly defeated the Mustangs 4-3 in Tri-County Athletic League action.
Dealt with a shorthanded roster after No. 3 singles player Hayley Barker was injured during warm-ups, Cecena was forced to move Kristina Slavich up to No. 3 and fill the 4-spot with Jessica Vest.
Vest, a sophomore, occasionally plays with Erin Glasspool at the No. 3 doubles position, but got the call to play singles on Tuesday against Gilroy.
“And she was the one who clinched the match for us,” Cecena said. “A great effort for someone who’s only been playing for two and a half months.
“She was up to the task.”
Vest edged Mustang Alissa Castro 6-2, 5-7 and 10-7 in the third-set tiebreaker to seal the win for San Benito, which also defeated Live Oak in a non-conference match 5-2 on Wednesday at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club.
The Lady ‘Balers are now 12-3 overall, 5-1 in the TCAL.
Vest’s victory was one of two wins San Benito received in the singles portion Tuesday in Gilroy, as No. 1 Amanda Marshall did her part by beating Meha Munshi 6-0, 6-0.
Gilroy’s Emily Castro won the No. 2 singles match over Abbie Woods 4-6, 7-5 (11-9), and Mustang Monica Liu did the same when she defeated Slavich 6-3, 6-7 (10-8).
Although the No. 1 doubles team of Crystal Perreira and Marisa Ibarra lost for just the second time this season 6-4, 6-2 to Kim Johnson and Holly Hunter, San Benito’s No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairings won comfortably.
At No. 2, Vanessa Casalegno and Chelsea Yoakum won with ease over Melanie Morelos and Ashley Nguyen 6-1, 6-0, and the No. 3 team of Rachel Smith and Lauren Ademek shutout Cristina Carrillo and Viviana Mendez 6-0, 6-0.
On Wednesday in Hollister, the Lady ‘Balers upended a visiting Live Oak team in a match that was originally scheduled for Aug. 28.
The San Benito doubles teams swept all three matches against the Acorns. At No. 1, Perreira and Ibarra returned to the win column when they beat Charissa Hosseini and Jennifer Protsman 6-1, 6-0; Casalegno and Yoakum did the same by defeating Alex Mandel and Mika Matsumoto 6-1, 6-3; and Smith and Ademek won their match convincingly over Megan Shumate and Melrose Ecura 6-1, 6-0.
In singles, the Lady ‘Balers scored wins at the top two positions. Marshall won her No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-1 against Kalea Cleetan and Woods took the No. 2 match over Alyssa Gamboa, although no score was reported.
San Benito lost their two remaining matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, however. Barker lost 6-4, 6-3 to Marie Lewis and Bri Ahumada-Wolfsmith fell to Karen McElheny 6-4, 4-6 (10-4).
San Benito will play Tuesday at Notre Dame. Match time is 4 p.m.
