The Valencia girls’ tennis team is a Division 5 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section champion as the Vikings won the title 12-6 over St. Joseph High School at the Claremont Club on Wednesday.
“The practice, time and effort are paid off,” Valencia coach Darrell Peries said in an interview with The Signal. “I’m definitely proud of the whole program from the players and coaching staff and parents as well.”
With the win, it’s the first Southern Section title for the program since 2014, when the Vikings won the Division 2 title over Vista Murrieta.
Just like the team did then, the road to the CIF championship was led by the doubles side.
Throughout this year’s postseason run, the Vikings narrowly won their matchups with the doubles side being the most productive in earning the team points.
In the semifinals at home against Burbank, the doubles sides went 9-0 against the Bulldogs in the 10-8 win to advance to the finals.
Peries spoke on the importance of the doubles side and how critical that group has been to the team’s success.
“Our doubles side, I think stretch-wise are all pretty equal,” he said. “If they were to play each other, I think any team could beat one to the other at any given moment. So, the fact that we have that level where they’re all consistent and I feel all are very, very strong, definitely helps.”
But in the finals match against St. Joseph, the singles side split the 12 points and won six of its games and played a factor in the win, leaving Peries proud.
“They have come across some very tough players,” he said. “The schools that we played all had players with high universal tennis ratings … so it’s not that our singles players weren’t strong, it’s that they came across really tough competition.”
The Vikings ended the season as champions, but Peries spoke on how the title is more than just a win for the team but a victory for the whole Valencia community as fans, parents and administrators joined the team in getting to the championship.
“To bring a title like that back to the school, it’s like it’s a whole team effort. It’s not just the whole program,” he said. “It’s the whole school’s effort. So, it’s nice to be able to share that with everybody.”