Bison girls tennis team advances to CIF finals

Freshman Katie Lee, shown here in an earlier match, won all three sets Wednesday. (File photo)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Liberty High girls tennis team clinched a spot in the CIF Southern Section finals with an 11-7 win at home over Western Christian Wednesday afternoon.

Katie Lee took all three of her sets as the number one in singles with scores of 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0. The win from a freshman on this varsity squad in the CIF semifinals is what head coach Tyler Baca called “something special.”

Natalie Mattar won two of her three sets as the No. 2 in singles and No. 3 singles player Indie Stover won one of her three sets.

Stover’s winning 10th point in her third set is what won the overall match for the Bison, who will face Woodcrest Christian Friday at 1:40 p.m. at the Claremont Club in the finals. Baca said Stover’s victory was a defining moment for the team.

“Indie Stover lost two close sets the first two rounds but won her final set to give us the 10th point and officially win it for us. That’s the big story of this team,” Baca said. “No matter if they lose a set, they know the ultimate goal and keep fighting for their team.”

Mia Gray and Alexiya Bozanic won one of their three sets 6-1 as the No. 1 in doubles. Vanessa Malki and Kia Martinez played the second spot in doubles and won two of their three sets with scores of 6-4 and 6-2.

Tessa Whitford and Isabella Mattar also took two of their three sets, 7-6 and 6-3, as the No. 3 doubles.

As this is the team’s first year with a full varsity roster and seniors at the young school, this is the first time the girls tennis program will see the championship round in the CIF tournament.

Baca said it was difficult to find the words for being in this situation.

“To go this far in CIF is beyond what words can describe,” said Baca. “This win today is truly something special and a team effort all around. I told them you have to have that inner “dog” in them to finish those close sets and be confident in what we practice and prepare for. Each one of them gave us what we needed.”