ROSEVILLE, Calif. – The St. Francis doubles tandem of Aniyus Pierre and Chloe Garcia dropped the single-game tiebreaker, 10-3, to lose a split-set matchup to the second-seeded Laguna Creek pairing of Irene Huang and Subha Patel, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0, in Friday's semifinal round of the 2022 Sac-Joaquin Section Individual Championships hosted at Johnson Ranch Sports Club.
The two Troubadour seniors were unseeded in the 16-team tournament, but upset No. 3-seeded Avery Phillips and Neeka Abadi of Del Oro on Thursday to advance to the final four.
Pierre and Garcia went up a break immediately in the first set to craft a 3-0 lead, then held on for the 6-4 set win. However, Huang and Patel stormed back in the second, taking a 2-1 lead to start before winning three unanswered games to a 6-3 win, forcing the 10-point tiebreaker.
Huang-Patel never trailed in the third set, winning seven of the first eight points then cruising to the finish line for the 10-3 victory.
As a team, St. Francis went 10-10 in 2022 and advanced a round in the SJS Division I bracket. Pierre and Garcia won the Delta League doubles championship – the program's first in five years – to earn a berth in the event at Johnson Ranch.
