Del Oro captures second straight section tennis title

For the second straight season, Del Oro girls tennis is bringing home a blue banner to Loomis. In the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II girls tennis championship at Johnson Ranch Racquet Club in Roseville, the Golden Eagles disposed of upset-minded Lodi by sweeping through all nine matches Thursday. "It feels great to be able to end strong," said Del Oro head coach Jen Isaac. "We had 10 seniors for the final match. It was nice to see everybody fight hard and get a win and look back at all the hard work they've done for the past four years. It's pretty awesome." Leading from the top spot in the order, Ali Isaac took a 6-1, 6-1 win to get things going for the top seed Del Oro. The win culminated a long, personal journey of recovery for the coach's daughter, who suffered a knee injury during basketball season last December that required surgery in January. Ali Isaac returned midway through the regular season without losing a step on her way to being named Sierra Foothill League Co-MVP with Rocklin's Roxana Shahi. "She worked her way back to at least be on the court for the first match," said Jen Isaac. "She went to all the practices even though she couldn't play… She came back after half a season with no play and beat the top girls in our league. To be in a position to make things happen like that is a great life lesson." Emma Dobson (6-2, 7-6), Abby Edwards (7-6, 6-4), Sophia Fusano (7-5, 6-1), Ari Brockman (6-2, 6-2) and Elaina Hanson (6-3, 7-6 (2)) rounded out the victorious singles ladder for Del Oro. Madi Parry and Kylie Lunders (6-1, 6-3), Makayla McIntosh and Hailey Gallamore (6-0, 6-0) and Gianna Domeny and Abby Brust (6-1, 6-0) took care of the doubles portion against Lodi, who as a 10-seed upset No. 7 Stagg, No. 2 Vista del Lago and No. 3 Ponderosa on its way to the section finals. The win for Del Oro not only sends its seniors out with a bang, but also longtime Golden Eagles tennis coach Jill Butler, who Jen Isaac said plans to retire after this year. "It's just a special day," Jen Isaac said. "Having (assistant coach Tom Isaac) and Jill Butler around is a big piece on why our doubles teams were so amazing this year." This win also marks the fourth overall section banner for the Golden Eagles' girls tennis program. Granite Bay wins first section title since 2012 After back-to-back seasons in which the Granite Bay girls tennis team fell in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I finals – both by 5-4 counts – the Grizzlies were able to finally turn the tables in 2019. And it all came down to a sophomore. Second-seeded Granite Bay and No. 1 St. Francis were knotted at four games apiece Thursday with one final match still playing under the lights at Broadstone Racquet Club in Folsom at the No. 6 singles position. With both schools' teams and rooting sections nervously watching, Granite Bay sophomore Ashley Ryder outlasted the Troubadours' Alexandra Evans in a thrilling three-set match to help capture the ninth section championship in Granite Bay program history. "Sheer joy," said Granite Bay head coach Linda Dickson, describing the scene as matchpoint fell for the Grizzlies. "It was there for the taking, and we earned it." Seven of the nine matches went the full three sets. The Grizzlies took five of them to tilt the scales for the program's first section title since 2012. Granite Bay also earned singles victories from Aarthi Sridhar at No. 1 (3-6, 6-2, 6-1), Hailey Montgomery at No. 2 (7-5, 6-0) and Cam Gluskin at No. 5 (7-5, 6-2). The lone doubles win for Granite Bay came from the No. 1 spot with Shreya Iyer and Alex Lam taking a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 verdict. Granite Bay, who went 10-0 in the Sierra Foothill League under Dickson and her coaching staff of Joanna Badgley, Manny Fernandez and Greg Anderson, now takes a 16-1 overall record into next week's NorCal Championships, which begin Tuesday.