Last Tuesday, the Taft High varsity girls’ tennis team arrived at Shafter planning on another easy victory, according to coach Jim Carnal, but instead got a surprise delivered all the way from Sicily.

Playing No. 1 for the Generals was foreign-exchange student Gaia Randazzo, a solid player. She beat Taft’s Leighton May, 6-2, in the first set, but then May settled in to tie the second set, 5-5. “Randazzo was nearly as good as Leighton. Both have good forehands and lobs,” Carnal said. “What made the match close was that Leighton was playing sick. But Leighton had a better serve, a better backhand and a repertoire of slices and drop shots that Randazzo did not.” May won the next two games to take the second set, 7-5. The third-set tiebreaker was tied at 6, when May took the final four points to win, 10-6.

The rest of the singles matches were standard fare. Diana Huizar beat Corie Richardson, 6-0, 6-2. Brisa Guizar beat Jazelle Salasar, 6-4, 6-0. Dariana Calderon was once again the first one off the court with a 6-1, 6-0 schooling of Rebecca Fruto. Likewise, Elizabeth Huizar beat Mariana Lara, 6-0, 6-1. And, Cielo Woggn beat Alexandra Sanchez Garcia 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 1 doubles, Guizar and Calderon made quick work of Richardson and Fruto. But No. 2 doubles was interesting because Shafter coach Lana Sharp put Randazzo with her No. 8 player Melania Evangelista. They faced sisters Cielo Woggn, No. 6, and Yuvia Woggn, No. 9. They played to a 5-5 tie in the first set. Then the sisters figured out how to hit away from Randazzo and won the next two games to go 7-5 and then cruised in the second set, 6-1. Rosa Silva and Alondra Cisneros were all business at 3 doubles pitching a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Salasar and Gizella Jimenez.

Taft improved to 11-2 overall; 5-1 in the South Sequoia League. Shafter dropped to 2-4 in the SSL.

The story line was similar in the home JV match, with Taft winning 7-2.

At No. 1 singles, Gabriela Aguilar beat Arly Galindo, 6-4, 6-0. Ivonne Gutierrez beat Nayeli Puente, 6-2, 6-2. Valerie Munoz skunked Maelyn Camacho, 6-0, 6-0. Jessica De La Cruz double bageled Evelyn Bustamante, 6-0, 6-0. Arelie Paz beat Yarely Urias, 6-0, 6-1. Shafter won at No. 6 singles when Kendall Robison fell to Gabriela Gonzalez, 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles, Aguilar and Gutierrez beat Galindo and Puente, 8-1. Shafter won the No. 2 doubles match when Gonzalez and Alicia M. beat Cindy Perez and Angelica Brown, 6-0, 6-1. The No. 3 doubles match was the most exciting of the day. Beginners Zughei Guzman and Jeidy Perez faced Bustamante and Yesenia G. Shafter won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3) but Taft came back to win the second, 6-2. Taft fell behind 9-5 in the deciding 10-point tiebreaker but won five match points to tie the game and then went on to win in double overtime, 12-10.

Taft’s JV improved to 6-3 overall; 4-1 in the SSL.