The Mission Prep girls tennis team has never won a CIF championship title and is now preparing for a championship title for the first time since 2007.
The Royals made its last CIF appearance in 2016, prior to that, they advanced to the championship round back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.
This year, Mission Prep finished the season tied for third in the Ocean League and started its postseason as the No. 9 seed. They opened the first round of the CIF-Central Section Division 3 defeating Tulare Union, 6-3 and then upset No. 1 Corcoran, 7-2. The Royals recently defeated No. 4 Selma to advance to the finals.
“I think there’s kind of a thing at Mission where you walk in thinking you’re going to win,” said Summer Peterseim, Mission Prep senior singles player. “I think the coolest part is that we didn’t think we were going to win and over time, we kept seeing that we were winning and we’re not doing bad in league. As a team, we’re pretty strong now. I probably wouldn’t have said that at the beginning of the year.”
“We work really hard to be consistent. We’re just always working on getting the next point and just trying to stay in point and not thinking too far ahead,” explained Kaylyn Continente, Mission Prep singles player.
Mission Prep has seven seniors on its team. “We’re strong; we do not have a wink link at all. If we’re all healthy, we have a great chance at winning,” said Patience, Mission Prep head coach.
The Royals will face No. 6 Tulare Western on Tuesday, November 6.
