CHICO — Chico High girls tennis player Clare Shaefer was ahead 5-2 in the second set of her Northern Section Division I championship match against Pleasant Valley’s Mimi Lohse, after winning the first set 6-0. A win by Schaefer would clinch the victory for the Panthers, and with her teammate trailing on the court beside her it looked to be in Schaefer’s hands to avoid having to play doubles in the first-to-five match.
Chico’s first four singles players won their matches in straight sets. After losing a game, but still leading 5-3, Shaefer appeared to be visibly upset with herself. In the final game she began with an ace, hit a forehand winner, Lohse evened the score at 30-30, before Shaefer once again went to her forehand for a winner to set up match point. After a long rally between both opponents, Lohse hit a forehand wide to seal the 6-1, 6-3 victory for Schaefer.
The win gave Chico the 5-1 victory Thursday at Chico High School.
“I kind of felt a little too confident and sometimes I let myself relax a little bit. It was more my mindset than my physical play,” Shaefer said. “I had to pick myself up, clear my mind, and be like ‘come on you’re haven’t won this yet.’ I feel like with these matches I want to practice being more aggressive, and because I was up by so much I felt more comfortable hitting harder shots at different angles. I felt like I could control that a little bit more, but I brought myself back.”
The Panthers will now face the Northern Section Division II champion Nov. 2 at the site of the NSCIF D-II champion. The D-I and D-II champion rotate hosting the final game ahead of the state tournament, and the Panthers hosted in 2022.
On the No. 6 singles court PV’s Shannon Fong came from behind to defeat Chico’s Addison Fowkes 0-6, 6-3, 10-7. Chico’s Kylie Vaughn defeated PV’s Maddux Wilson 6-0, 6-0; Chico’s Paige Sitanggang defeated PV’s Tatum Hunter 6-0, 6-0; Chico’s Kaylee Morehead defeated PV’s Morgan Telegan 6-0, 6-0; and Chico’s Aubrey Layland defeated PV’s Taylor Perry 6-0, 6-1.
“I’m super proud of these girls for continuing to work hard all year,” said Chico head coach Randy Agnew. “I know trying to balance school with that is hard at times, it’s a distraction at times, but these girls work hard, and I know they’re looking forward to hopefully playing again at states this year. Their work ethic is great. They deserve everything they get because they work hard, especially offseason work. It is just a group that is a close group, they’re tight off the court and on the court and they work hard. They deserve every bit of this.”
The Panthers finished first in the Eastern Athletic League, finishing their regular season 20-3 and 10-0 in the EAL. It was the their third straight 10-0 finish in EAL play, fifth straight EAL title and Thursday they won their sixth straight NSCIF D-I title in a row.
“It is special because it’s something I try not to take for granted,” Agnew said. “These girls work hard. I’m extremely proud of our program, and I’m equally proud of my JV team (that went undefeated). I’m extremely proud of this program because they work really hard and have put themselves on the map for sure.”
Chico now awaits the winner of the NSCIF D-II tournament. The NSCIF D-II finals will be held Tuesday between Orland and Gridley. The NSCIF D-I and D-II winners will face off Nov. 2. The state tournament will begin Nov. 17. The EAL singles and doubles tournament will be held Saturday. Six members from Chico and six members of PV’s team will be present, as well as three doubles teams from each school.
“We continue to take each step at a time, focusing on league first, then sections and our ultimate goal is state, but I don’t try to look ahead too much,” Agnew said.
Schaefer said she and her team have worked hard to get a respectable seed at the state tournament.
“Our goal is to get past the first round of states, because we haven’t the last two years,” Schaefer said. “We’re trying to get a good seed so we don’t get matched up with the top seed who wins. We’re really focusing on not getting too over confident or under confident because it could go either way with the style of play we have. I feel like going to state we’re going to play hard.”