Liberty girls making net gains

Three years ago, Liberty High School scrambled just to have enough players to field a full girls tennis team.

First-year coach Kih Gourrier had to convince players who had been cut from other sports to try a sport in which many of them had never participated.

“We started with some girls who couldn’t make the volleyball team, and they became the tennis team,” said Gourrier, now in his fourth season. “We just hoped those girls would stick with us, and they’re starters now.”

Starters on a team that suddenly every other school in the Southeast League is scrambling to keep up with.

The Patriots carry a 10-0 overall record and a 5-0 mark in Southeast League play into their match at Green Valley on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

“It is amazing how far we’ve come,” said senior Erika De Los Santos, who hadn’t played tennis before her freshman year. “For two years, we had to rely on six girls to get us to a good spot. Now, we have so many great players.”

Gourrier credits De Los Santos and classmates Sarah Lucas, Riki Aquino and Marlee Moimoi as being the “foundation of what we have now.”

The four have been together since their freshman year.

“We’ve all seen this team move forward,” De Los Santos said. “We’re all just happy that we’re able to have such a strong season and knowing that they’ll be able to stay strong after we graduate.”

Already under Liberty’s belt this season is the program’s first win over Coronado, an 11-7 victory last week.

“I couldn’t even speak,” De Los Santos said of that win. “For so long, we thought it was possible to beat them. We just had this mental block of not being able to beat them, and we finally did it. It tops anything I’ve done in tennis so far.”

The Patriots’ success comes from their depth.

Along with the senior class, Liberty has a top-flight singles player in junior Danae Ingwaldson and a strong freshman class, including Aphrah Brokaw and Sina Gebrai.

“Those girls have kind of made tennis cool at Liberty,” Gourrier said. “They see where the program is going. They know the players on the other teams are a little nervous to play us this year.”

They’ve also raised the competition level in practices. Because they’re able to practice against high-caliber players within their own team, Liberty’s girls have only become better.

“Everybody wants to keep their spot (in the lineup),” Ingwaldson said. “It pushes you to get better, because nobody wants to play a lower spot. I thought this was going to be our best year, but I think we’re even better than I expected us to be.”

Because he has a deep and talented roster, putting together the right lineup for each match can be tricky for Gourrier, who sometimes must mix and match who plays in the three singles slots and which players team to form the three doubles tandems.

“That’s a struggle we still battle with,” he said. “But it’s a nice problem to have.”

If Liberty beats Green Valley, the Patriots, who will have only two league matches remaining, would be all but guaranteed at least a share of the Southeast League title and a top seed for the Sunrise Region playoffs, which begin Oct. 5.

Even if the Patriots lose to Green Valley, they could still earn at least a share of the league crown and would likely qualify for the postseason.

The Patriots played in the regional semifinals two years ago, but have their sights set a bit higher this season.

“They’ve worked hard to get here, and I want them to feel like they’re the king of the hill right now,” Gourrier said. “It just motivates them to keep working hard.”