Sage Hill in CIF-SS Division 2 girls’ tennis semifinals

The Sage Hill School girls’ tennis team is in the CIF semifinals for the first time in four years.

The Lightning got a team effort to beat Temecula Valley, 11-7, in a CIF Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinal match Monday at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

Each singles player and doubles team won at least once for Sage Hill (17-2). Isabella Deckey and Michelle Hung, the Academy League tournament champions, swept, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 1 doubles.

The Lightning were tied 3-3 after the first round. But Sage Hill won each of the next two rounds, 4-2.

“We took all three doubles [sets] in the second [round] and a singles to go up, 7-5,” Sage Hill Coach A.G. Longoria said. “Then we won two doubles [sets] and a singles to kind of ice it at 10. We don’t ever beat their No. 1 [player], but we win the doubles and we beat their No. 3 singles all three times. That’s been the modus operandi all year in the playoffs.”

No. 3-seeded Sage Hill will play at No. 2 Arcadia in a semifinal match Wednesday.

Maya Byrd won twice in singles for the Lightning, while Kayla “Cat” Kiani and Jaclyn Gerschultz each won once. The doubles teams of Nicole Condas and Miranda deBruyne, as well as Marina Anderson and Lauren Fishman, each won twice.

“I knew it was going to be close,” Longoria said. “My doubles is surprisingly better than I thought they would be. My singles, I expected a little bit more. You know, we just can’t beat a No. 1, but as long as we beat a 2 and 3, we’re OK.

“It’s a great feeling [to be back in the semifinals]. Last year, the boys got into the semifinals, and I was so sick [with cancer]. It’s good to be back. Our goal was to make our seed, which is the semifinals, so anything after this is gravy. We’ve won a lot of close matches in the playoffs, which bodes well for us in close matches.”

— Compiled by Matt Szabo