Rio Mesa's girls' tennis team performed beyond its years this season
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Although Rio Mesa girls' tennis team lost in the semifinals of the Division IV CIF-Southern Section playoffs last week, the Spartans showed a positive sign of things to come in the future.

After a thrilling win in the quarterfinals against Quartz Hill, RMHS finally ran out of gas when it lost 14-4 to Valencia. RMHS head coach Steve Worthington said the team played great and had nothing to be down about.

"The Valencia team is a very good team and we walked away from that game with our heads held up high," Worthington said.

"There was no crying or thinking of what might have been from our team. We knew we got beat by a very respectful team, both on the court and off it. We were rooting for them to win it all after we lost to them, and they did."

Although the season is over for RMHS, the team is very young and could be even better in 2007.

On this year's varsity team, Rio Mesa fielded six freshmen and three juniors. The freshmen were Sarah Zook, Savannah Arnot,

Meghan Richardson, Claire Willey, Jessica Vizents and Sonia Landeros. Junior Candace Sholler was out this season with a tendon injury and expects to be back next year, giving the Spartans 10 returning starters.

"I've coached since 1981, so usually when I'm asked what I will remember about a certain team I have to stop and scratch my head and think," Worthington said. "Not with this team. I'll remember the maturity of our youth, if that makes sense. They played with no fear and played beyond their years. They didn't play like inexperienced rookies."

Worthington also said he would remember just how well this squad worked together as a team, which was showcased in the quarterfinal match against Quartz Hill. After the games were done, the teams were tied up with nine wins apiece, but Rio Mesa took home the win because it beat out Quartz Hill in points by one, 79-78.

"To say that game was thrilling is the understatement of the year," Worthington said. "At the end, me and the other coach looked at the scores and just stared in disbelief. I didn't realize it was that close. What do you say to a coach after that? I just shook his hand. We walked away and our team was celebrating and their team wasn't. It must have been a tough way to lose.

"One thing about that game was that it showed just how well (we) played as a team," he said. "Every single point by every single player was very important. The players were rooting for each other like I've never seen before. They knew every point counted and they showed a can-do spirit that was great to see them learn. Not just for tennis but for life."