In high school sports as in all sports, there can be huge, staggering, mind-blowing upsets.  Most of the time, though, the team that’s supposed to win does, which is exactly what happened when the Moore League champion Lakewood Lancers’ girls’ tennis team moved past the Downey Vikings.  Playing a first-round playoff match on their home court, against a Downey team who’d entered the CIF playoffs as a wild card, the Lancers looked like the dominant program they’ve become over the course of the year.

After the first round, they’d won four of the six matches, and Lakewood coach Lisa Busch was confident enough in her team that she subbed Stacey Tan, her senior phenom, out of her remaining two singles matches.  The Lancers went on to win the second round 5-1, and the third 4-2, taking the day with a score of 13-5.  Stacey and her sister Suzy, who played all three rounds, won their four matches 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, and, as you might imagine, 6-0.

“I think Downey played at a slower pace than we were used to, they hit a lot of lobs that can slow things down, so it took a while for us to get adjusted,” said Busch.  “But we stayed tough and didn’t get frustrated.” 

The Lancers will move on to face Los Osos, who won a tight series against St. Bonaventure today, 10-8.  They’ll play on Saturday in round two of the CIF playoffs, and a Friday-morning coin flip will determine the host site (we’ll update later in the day to let you know where).  Coach Busch wasn’t too concerned with how the coin fell, though.  “We’ll be ready either way,” she said.

Wilson

The Wilson Bruins also moved along fairly easily, topping Upland 14 matches to four.  Upland was also a wild card team playing on a Long Beach court.  According to the PT, Jillian Sangria (the Bruins’ star singles player) won all three of her matches, as did Jessica Cedillo.  The Bruins will now face Corona-Centennial in the second round, Saturday at 2pm.  Again, we’ll update later when the coin flip decides who has to spring for gas.