On October 1, 2019, Taft tennis showed they had the ability to come through against Shafter’s Lady Generals in a very important match. Taft had zero losses when they entered this match, and Shafter had only one loss in the first round. A win for Shafter would have tied us in league. It was an intense game but eventually Taft defended it. 

Singles:

#1 Cristal Martinez-Munoz lost against Judith Gomez 4-6, 4-6.

#2 Alyn Paz defeated Gladis Perez 6-2, 6-0. 

#3 Natalie Rubio defeated Andrea Carreno 6-1, 4-6. Natatlie went into a 10 point tiebreaker round and won 10-8.

#4 Nadalie Pence defeated Victoria Munoz 6-0, 6-2. 

#5 Jaylynn Dowden lost against Gigi Lopez 4-6, 2-6.

#6 Yadira Ruiz lost against Ashley Castillo 4-6, 6-6. Yadira went into a 7 point tiebreaker and won 7-5.

Doubles: 

#1 Cristal Martinez-Munoz & Natalie Rubio defeated Judith Gomez & Gladis 6-3,6-6. Cristal & Natalie went into a 7 point tiebreaker and won 7-5. 

#2 Alyn Paz & Nadalie Pence defeated Sol & Gigi Lopez 6-3, 6-3. 

#3 Nidia Pablo & Anayeli Gonzalez defeated Andrea Carreno & Naveya 6-4, 1-6. Nidia & Anayeli went into a 7 point tiebreaker and lost 4-10. 

Alyn Paz stepped up from her normal four-ranked position to beat her Shafter opponent number two comfortably. Jaylynn Dowden and Yadira Ruiz, both of whom had to jump up 3 positions to cover for missing Taft players, put forward valiant efforts. They didn’t win, but they fought hard and won very good ratings, bringing Yadira to a tie breaker with her rival. 

TUHS was tied up with Shafter 4-4 after Nadalie Pence and Alyn Paz pulled out a double win for the group, and it all came down to the number one double game. Throughout the extremely intense match, parents, players, and coaches from both teams were on the edge of their seats, which ended in a 7-5 tie breaker victory for Taft.