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Plant (7-0) Tops Chamberlain In Girls Tennis

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By JARRETT GUTHRIE

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 13, 2009

Updated: 03/13/2009 12:26 am

TAMPA - In a meeting between two of the area's top girls tennis teams, Plant remained undefeated with a 5-2 win against Chamberlain behind a 6-1, 6-1 win from sophomore No. 1 Amber Li.

Li improved to 3-0 on the season for Plant (7-0), getting ahead of Chamberlain (5-1) No. 1 Jen Miller early and not looking back.

Li looked a little hesitant early in Thursday's match as the players tried to get a gauge on their opponent. However after a solid back and forth in the first set, Li was able to send a lob over the head and out of reach of Miller for a 3-0 advantage and looked nothing but confident for the rest of the match.

"I haven't played Jenny in singles in a while, but we have played together in doubles," Li said. "So I didn't really know what to expect, but after I got to 3-0 I started to get more confident. At the beginning I might have been a little tentative, but I found my game and started to play a little better."

The Chiefs' lone victory in singles came in the No. 2 division on a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win from Nicole Mera against Solange La Puente. Mera then teamed with Miller for a No. 1 doubles win against Li and La Puente 6-3, 6-2.

Sickles Edges Gaither In Softball

As soon as she saw the pitch, Sickles junior outfielder Courtney Goff knew she was going to put the ball in play.

Goff blasted a single to left field to drive in the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Gryphons beat Gaither 2-1 in a Class 6A-District 7 softball game Thursday night.

With the win, Sickles (11-2, 6-1) shares first place in the district standings with Gaither (8-3, 6-1).

Goff, who is committed to South Florida, finished 3-for-4 with an RBI.

"I watched it and it felt nice," Goff said. "We really wanted to win. We were really focused."

In the top of the seventh, Gaither had a runner on third with two outs, but Sickles senior pitcher Alyese Stapf forced a pop fly to left field to seal the win.

"It shouldn't have come down to that," said first-year Gaither coach Laura Wolf. "We had multiple runners on base and we had our opportunities."

Stapf (5-1) allowed seven hits with three strikeouts and no walks to earn the victory.

Nick Williams

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