The Bonita Vista High School girls tennis team is back on top. Team members and coaches are understandably elated after the Lady Barons defeated Mission Hills, 11-7, last Friday at the Barnes Tennis Center to capture the San Diego Section Division III team championship.
“Since it’s been 22 years, we’re pretty excited,” No. 1 doubles player Rachel Rust explained.
This year’s CIF championship returns the Bonita Vista program to its former prominence. The Lady Barons last won the Division I title in 1993 under coach Ken Faverty after finishing runner-up in the Class 3A finals the previous year.
Bonita Vista won the 1985 Class 3A title under coach Gil Hartson and finished runner-up in the Class 3A finals in 1988 under coach Jim Cartmill.
“The kids worked their hearts out,” Bonita Vista athletic director Jason Murphy noted. “I was excited for this.”
Bonita Vista (4-6 in league play, 12-6 overall) entered this year’s 16-team draw seeded first while Mission Hills was seeded sixth.
The Lady Barons defeated the San Diego Jewish Academy, 12-6, in the opening round of the playoffs on Oct. 27, then eliminated ninth-seeded Otay Ranch, 11-7, on Oct. 28.
Bonita Vista then drew fifth-seeded Helix in the semifinals on Oct. 29 and recorded another 11-7 victory to advance to the championship game.
In last Friday’s finals, the Lady Barons were led by No. 1 singles player Valerie Valencia, who won all three of her matches, defeating Mission Hills’ Gillian Parker 6-3, Cameron Parker 6-0 and Sam Ross 6-0.
Valencia improved to 44-1 on the season.
BV No. 2 singles Ambre Decilap won one match to give the Lady Barons four wins in the singles round.
Bonita Vista won seven of the nine doubles matches to secure the team victory.
The tandem of Rust and Alexis Lopez defeated the Mission Hills duo of Katie Gordon and Jelena Mandrapa 6-3, and thumped the Lady Grizzlies’ duos of Jenny Dorsett and Amy Richey, and Maddie Zepeda and Miranda Heredia, both by 6-1 scores.
The Bonita Vista duos of Mia Marinakis and Brittney Mendoza emerged with a pair of 6-3 wins over their opponents from Mission Hills while the Lady Baron duo of Arianna Miranda and Arati Jaiswal posted winning scores of 6-1 and 7-6.
The tandem of Rust and Lopez improved to 42-3 on the season.
Joe Sheffield, who serves as co-coach of the team with Karla Bautista, said one of the keys to the team’s success was in building up its doubles team.
“I knew our No.1 singles really would take care of business,” the BVHS co-coach explained. “We just needed to make sure we had a good doubles team to back her up. It worked out to our advantage by grooming these girls to play doubles.”
Mission Hills (13-8) upset second-seeded Santa Fe Christian, 11-7, in the semifinals to meet the Lady Barons in the finals.
Bonita Vista’s win over Mission Hills assured the Division III championship remained in the South Bay. Eastlake, under the guidance of coach Alberto Ramos, won last year’s Division III title with a tie-breaker win over Pacific Ridge.
As for next year, Sheffield said there is a core group of returning players who should provide a foundation for defense of the team’s CIF championship.
CIF notepad
Bonita Vista was one of five South County teams entered in the Diivision III playoffs.
Otay Ranch ( 3-7 in league, 5-7 overall) upset eighth-seeded Mar Vista (10-2 in league, 11-4 overall) by a score of 16-2 in the opening round to meet Bonita Vista in the next round.
Sweetwater (12-2) earned the No. 3 seed in the division playoffs but was ousted in a 15-3 loss to 14th-seeded West Hills in the opening round. The Lady Red Devils had finished 12-0 in league play.
Chula Vista High Tech also qualified for the division playoffs, though the Lady Bruins (10-1 in league, 10-2 overall) fell to Helix, 12-6, in the opening round.
Fourth-seeded Pacific Ridge (11-8)defeated third-seeded Patrick Henry, 15-3, to win this year’s Division II team title while sixth-seeded Westview (10-9) edged top-seeded Francis Parker, 10-8, to win the Division I title.
Eastlake (8-2 in league, 10-4 overall) received the No. 5 seed in this year’s Division II playoff field and defeated 12th-seeded Brawley, 14-4, before dropping a 16-2 match to Pacific Ridge in the quarterfinals.
Olympian (5-5 in league, 9-8 overall) and Hilltop (0-10 in league, 4-11 overall) also qualified for the Division II playoffs while Mater Dei Catholic earned the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs.
The Lady Crusaders (10-0 in league, 15-3 overall) defeated 15th-seeded San Pasqual, 11-7, in the first round and then eliminated seventh-seeded La Costa Canyon, 11-7, in the quarterfinals before dropping a 10-3 decision to Westview in the semifinals.
