Doubles shift pays off for Lady Bulldogs, who retain second
place in division standings
MORGAN HILL — Given the way their singles players battled in their last meeting, Live Oak coach Ken Marques and Sobrato coach Randy Barbaglia had an inkling Tuesday’s rematch would be decided in the doubles contests.
Barbaglia only recently found three pairings that he and his players agreed would best complement the Lady Bulldogs’ powerful singles ladder.
“It’s tough sometimes,” he said. “They’re all good doubles players, but they have to have that chemistry; that connection that makes them a good team.”
Sobrato’s current three tandems of Alyssa Warren and Amy Morimoto, Katie Martin and Allison Bettencourt, and Amanda Alipaz and Nemerita Cherra might be here to stay. Behind their steadfast effort Tuesday, the Bulldogs secured a 5-2 victory at Live Oak High to remain in second place in the Santa Teresa Division standings. They swept the two-game season series and cooled off a rival Acorns team that is having its best start in more than a decade.
“I knew it was going to be a close match again,” said Marques, whose Acorns lost by the same score to Sobrato in September. “We had to shift our doubles teams around because some girls couldn’t play today. We were hoping two of them would step up.
“We’ve gotten a lot better since our last game with each other. We’re much more seasoned, but so is Sobrato.”
The Bulldogs (7-2 league) won two of the three doubles matches after Ali Pecsok triumphed 6-1, 6-0, against Alyssa Gamboa of Live Oak (5-4), and the Bulldogs’ Alexa Watanabe beat Marie Lewis 6-2, 6-3 in an intense match that could be a preview of this year’s Santa Teresa Singles Tournament final. Warren and Morimoto bested Amy Freitas and Christa Jimenez 6-2, 6-1 in the top doubles match, and Alipaz and Cherra came through, 6-4, 6-1, against the Acorns’ No. 3 pair of Danielle Stevenson and Vanessa Torres.
“We played with a lot of intensity today,” said Pecsok, who showed tremendous command of her serve. “We’ve been trying to pick that up this season. I think we look a lot better.”
The team score was knotted 1-1 when Morimoto and Warren put their win in the books. Morimoto, a junior, vollied three straight shots at match point to clinch it.
“We play very well together,” Warren said. “We pump each other up when we need it. … We needed to for that last point. Amy did a great job putting it away.”
Barbaglia likes Morimoto and Warren’s connection — and the rapport between Martin and Bettencourt, who lost 2-6, 3-6 to Melrose Ecura and Emily Mandel.
“They were down today, but they’re a good pair,” Barbaglia said.
Live Oak’s No. 4 single Mika Matsumoto won a spirited match with freshman Emerald Nguyen, 6-2, 6-0, to make the score 4-2 with the No. 3 singles contest between Allison Stoner and Acorns sophomore Elena McElheny left to conclude.
“My backhand was really working well,” said Matsumoto, who moved to 9-1 this season. “(Nguyen) hit the ball well. My goal was to win; we needed it.”
Stoner’s strength and control held up during a lengthy second set, and the junior escaped with a 6-2, 6-4 win to help lift the Bulldogs.
“Allison gave it everything she had,” Barbaglia said. “I knew the doubles games were important, but our singles players had to step up, too. They did well.”
NOTE: Opening rounds of the Santa Teresa Singles/Doubles Tournament begins at 1 p.m. Friday at Mount Pleasant High. The local teams are sending six players apiece. Sobrato will be represented by defending singles champion Watanabe and Pecsok, and doubles combinations of Stoner, Nguyen, Martin and Bettencourt. Lewis and Gamboa will play singles for the Acorns, and Matsumoto and Freitas will pair up with McElheny and Jennifer Protsman, respectively. The event concludes next weekend.
