A HUGE congratulations goes out to the Pilots, once again, for a tremendous 4-3 victory over Franklin in the L.A. C.I.F. City Section Invitational Playoffs on Wednesday.  The win marks the 3^rd straight year that the Pilots have advanced to the Quarterfinals, or better, and earns the team a re-match of last year's semi-final match vs. Venice.

In singles, Dalilia Cornejo & Rebeca Rodriguez took 3 games from their opponents, played well for the Pilots & never gave up, despite trailing throughout.  Luisa Martin won in dramatic fashion, after a mistake by both players led to a re-play of the 13^th game of the first set.  In the tie-breaker, Martin trailed 2-4 before reeling off 5 points in a row to take that 1^st set.  The momentum carried as she pressed down on the gas & dominated her opponent 6-1 in the 2^nd, for a straight-set victory.  Kathy Ngo trailed early in her match @ 1-3, before winning 5 games in a row to win the 1^st set.  Despite numerous controversies regarding the score in the 2^nd set, Ngo held on for a 7-5 straight-set victory of her own in a hotly disputed grudge match.

In doubles, Jamie Vasquez & Lizbeth Medina led their opponents 3-2 early in the 1^st set before finally faltering, while Sandra Medina & Patty Ledesma dominated their match from beginning to end in a 6-2, 6-4 straight-set drubbing.  All of this led to a 3-3 tie, overall & led to all the attention then being focused on Victoria Martinez & Melissa Garibay versus a talented Panthers squad at #1 doubles.  Martinez & Garibay lost the 1^st set 3-6 & found themselves looking for answers.  After realizing that they already possessed the answer & a re-dedicated effort & commitment to each other, they took the next set 6-4 in a tightly fought match, setting up the dramatics that would follow.  With the entire team's fate on the line, Martinez & Garibay built an early 4-1 lead in the 3^rd & final set, & seemed to be cruising to the finish line, before their opponents "locked in" & took 3 of the next 4 games, with the last of those three games in dominant fashion.  It seemed as if the match could go into extra games, perhaps even a tie-breaker.  Martinez, however, served brilliantly while Garibay put on the final touches at the net to close out the match & clinch the victory for the Pilots.

Awesome Job Pilots & Good Luck vs. Venice on Friday!

GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS MATCH

L.A. C.I.F. CITY SECTION, INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS

FINAL SCORE