Carpinteria’s Kelsie Bryant reaches for a passing shot in Wednesday’s CIF semifinal.
Carpinteria High’s girls tennis team clinched its third-straight appearance in a CIF Championship match on Wednesday, eliminating visiting Arlington 12-6 in a Division-5 semifinal.
The top-seeded Warriors led 9-3 after two rounds and secured the victory when Emily Saito and Odessa Stork won the first set of the third round.?The Warriors will return to the Claremont Club on Friday to defend their CIF championship won there last year. Carpinteria was runner-up in 2011.
Carpinteria’s Gabi Montes de Oca takes a volley in front of doubles teammate Merissa Souza.
“I think we did a really good job,” said Stork, a freshman who has played mostly singles this season. “There was some pressure because obviously going into a semifinal it was tough and we really wanted to move on so I think everybody did a good job staying positive and keeping focused.”
The Warriors got off to a strong start by winning four sets in the first round 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1. But it was the second round that decided the match as Carpinteria trailed in two doubles sets but came back to win both 7-5. The Warriors claimed the first five points of the second round to build a 9-2 lead before Arlington’s Jen Andra topped Kelsie Bryant in a tiebreaker. That set lasted some 20 minutes longer than any other in the round.
Andra went 3-0 on the day for Arlington.
Saito and Stork won three sets without a loss for the Warriors while Kassandra Ni won two singles sets.
It is a quick turnaround going into the CIF championship match. The Warriors will face Riverside Poly who won its semifinal 14-4 over Wilson of Hacienda Heights.
Bryant said the team played much better last year at the Claremont Club having gained experience the year before.
“This year we’re hoping to repeat what we did last year but we know that it’s going to be really tough.”
CARPINTERIA 12, ARLINGTON 6
Carp Singles – Bryant 1-1, Ni 2-0, Pike 1-2, Wilson 0-1, Wagner 1-0
Arlington Singles – Andra 3-0, Salgado 0-3, Gonzalez 0-3Carp Doubles – Saito/Zapata 2-1, Souza/Montes de Oca 2-1, Saito/Stork 3-0
Arlington Doubles – Rosado/Bauman 0-3, Turner/Woods 2-1, Noriega/Gloria 0-3
