VISALIA — On Wednesday, the Taft High varsity girls’ tennis team’s season came to a dramatic end, 6-3, in the Valley Division IV finals at the hands of the No. 1 seed Central Valley Christian Cavaliers.

“The match was super close with dramatic ebbs and flows all the way to the final 15 minutes,” Taft coach Jim Carnal said.

Taft’s Nos. 1 and 2 players lost in second-set tiebreakers so CVC had a 4-2 lead after singles in the best-of-nine match. It looked bleak for Taft.

Taft’s No. 1 doubles, Leighton May and Dariana Calderon, dropped their first set, 6-1, to CVC’s Evin Haworth and Beth Girard, the No. 12 seed in the Valley doubles tournament. Likewise, at No. 2 doubles, Taft sisters Diana and Elizabeth Huizar dropped their first set, 6-2, to Grace McPhaill and Rylie Westra.

“That’s when things looked super bleak,” Carnal said. Then the tide took a turn. May and Calderon roared back to win their second set, 6-1. The Huizar sisters turned the tables and won their second set, 6-2. Taft’s No. 3 doubles players, Rosa Silva and Alondra Cisneros, had beaten Abby Vierra and Ashley Tartagila, 6-4, in the first set, but lost the second, 6-3.

The match would be decided by three third-set, 10-point tiebreakers with CVC needing to win just one and Taft needing to sweep all three.

CVC’s top doubles team, which was seeded 2 in the Central area tournament was much steadier as May and Calderon made 10 unforced errors and lost 10-4. That gave CVC’s its decisive fifth point.

It was a similar story at No. 3 doubles with Silva and Cisneros making too many errors to lose, 10-4.

At 2 doubles, the Huizar sisters, the only two Taft girls to win in singles, got off to an 8-4 lead, only to see it evaporate to 8-8. But they rallied to win the final two points, 10-8.

“Our girls had a tremendous season going 22-6 and narrowly losing to a very polished team with strokes honed by private lessons,” Carnal said. “CVC had beaten Division I Bakersfield Christian, 8-1, in August. And the one point that BCHS got was from a girl with a 94-1 high school record. BCHS beat us, 6-3, both times we played, so we knew it was an uphill fight going in. A highlight of the season was No. 1 Leighton May becoming the first girl to win the South Sequoia League singles championship in the league’s 53-year existence. Coaches Bill and Linda Friend and I are very proud of our players’ accomplishments and how well they represented Taft High.

“The players dedicated the finals game to Kelsey Meadows. Her mother, Stacy, wished the girls well and thanked them for their thoughts as they left for the match.”

Scores were:

Singles

Haworth defeated May, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). McPhaill defeated Calderon, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Girard defeated Brisa Guizar, 6-3, 6-2. Diana Huizar defeated Taylor Neese, 6-3, 6-1. Elizabeth Huizar defeated Rylie Westra, 6-2, 6-2. Taryn Westra (CVC) defeated Cielo Woggn, 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles

Haworth and Girard defeated May and Calderon, 6-1, 1-6, 10-3. Diana and Elizabeth Huizar defeated McPhaill and Rylie Westra, 2-6, 6-2, 10-8. Tartaglia and Vierra (CVC) defeated Silva and Cisneros, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.