HALLIGAN LEADS CASA OVER HEALDSBURG: GAUCHOS CONTINUERUN TOWARD PERFECT SEASON, IMPROVE TO 9-0 IN SCL

Casa Grande's tennis team, led by freshman singles sensation Matt Halligan, moved a step closer to a perfect season and a Sonoma County League title Thursday by defeating Healdsburg, 5-2.

Realistically, Healdsburg was the only obstacle between Casa's quest for perfection and a conference championship. The Greyhounds are second in league with a 7-3 mark while the Gauchos are now 9-0 with three matches remaining. In the first half of the season, Casa beat its remaining opponents (Petaluma, Windsor and El Molino) by 7-0 scores.

Seeing the current team in action, it's hard to believe that four years ago the Gauchos were near the bottom of the SCL standings. In 2007, they finished 3-9 and improved to 5-7 and 8-4 the past two years.

Lisa Thornton has seen the transformation first-hand as she served as assistant coach in 2007 and took control of the program three years ago. A tennis player herself, she has shared her knowledge and enthusiasm with her players.

"I helped out four years ago because my son was on the team and had such a good time, I applied for the job when it came open," Thornton said. "Coming from where we were to this point is the greatest. We have 21 players on this year's team, so to have this many kids interested in playing tennis makes me feel good about what we're doing here."

Having Halligan around for three more years means Casa will stay in the league's upper echelon.

Halligan defeated Bosten Larson, 6-3, 6-1, on Thursday.

"Mentally I was able to stay focused when my opponent tried to get in my head," Halligan said. "He came back to make it 4-3 in the first set and was being pretty vocal, but I took deep breaths between points and let it go. I was able to close out the first set and then won the second."

Casa won all four singles matches, with No. 2 Matt Draluck defeating John Bursick, 6-2, 6-3, to improve his record to 9-0; No. 3 Ken Campbell bested Ryan Powers, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; and No. 4 Ken Woods edging Stuart White, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 1 doubles was won by the Casa Grande team of Kevin Phan and Laurence Buoti. They defeated Charlie Conrad and Noah Villegas, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.