Valencia girls’ tennis defeated the Burbank Bulldogs in the Division 5 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section semifinals at Valencia High School on Wednesday, 10-8, and advanced to the championship, set to be held Monday at the Claremont Club.
The win followed a string of narrow victories the Vikings have secured throughout the playoffs, including an 11-7 victory on the road in the quarterfinals over Milken.
“Very excited. But I don’t want to celebrate right now because I want to finish it off,” Valencia coach Darrell Peries said in response to the excitement of the team after securing a trip to the finals.
As the Vikings have done all season, they won doing so with their strongest unit in the doubles.
While the singles side for Valencia was only able to secure one win, the doubles recorded nine victories to secure the overall team win over the Bulldogs.
The pairing of Julia Lee and Amelia Behmlander finished off the team win for Valencia as they were the final doubles match of the day with all of their teammates watching and encouraging the pair as they went.
“That’s been our strength the whole year. So, we kind of rely on them for a lot of success,” Peries said. “And they’ve come through, for the most part. So, you just got to continue with that.”
Following the quarterfinals, the Vikings were the one of two Santa Clarita Valley teams remaining in the girls’ tennis playoffs entering the semifinals round after West Ranch was defeated by Brentwood in Division 3, and Golden Valley fell in Division 5, to the Burbank Bulldogs.
Saugus, which played against Village Christian in the semifinals of the Division 6 bracket, was defeated 13-5.
As for Valencia, the win presents an opportunity to bring a Southern Section title to the community.
But preparation for the championship will be a challenge in itself. As the forecast is projecting heavy rain over the weekend, it leaves Peries unsure how his players will get out to the court.
Regardless, he’s not worried about the preparation as he has full confidence in his team no matter what.
“I mean we got to find a way to get on the court,” he said. “But, if they can’t get on the court then it is what it is, and you just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Valencia plays in the Division 5 championship on Monday at the Claremont Club in Claremont with matches set to begin at 11 a.m.