Atwater’s Velarde captures CCC tennis crown

Only after stepping off of the Golden Valley court and getting accosted by an enthusiastic group of peers and teammates did Atwater junior Catrina Velarde crack a smile.

Part of it was the fatigue from Thursday afternoon’s 6-3, 6-3 victory over Turlock’s Rebekka Cripe in the Central California Conference Singles Tournament championship match. Part of it was the mask Atwater coach Marty Sullivan said she’s learned to wear while battling sickness over the last year.

Velarde has bounced back from a surgery that removed her entire large intestine with two more procedures on the books. Just being out on the court for a tournament she was forced to miss a year ago was cathartic. Winning it all after reaching the semifinals as a freshman was sublime.

“I had the surgery in June and have just been trying to get back ever since,” said Velarde, who dropped as low as 80 pounds post surgery. “It’s tough. I try to eat, but it isn’t the same. My conditioning definitely isn’t what it was. I’m pretty tired right now. If the match had gone three sets, I was probably in trouble.

“I didn’t sleep a lot last night thinking about this one. I told my mom I probably need to run a quick mile just so I could sleep. I get real jittery before matches, but I was doing my best to just play it cool, no matter what happened.”

Velarde successfully did that, rarely showing any emotion during the straight-sets victory. And there was plenty of opportunity to show it, beginning early on when she realized she might not have her best game after three matches on Tuesday.

The junior went for a couple big shots early and was a little long each time as Cripe raced out to a 2-1 lead. Velarde quickly switched tactics and began just returning shots and allowing her opponent to make the mistake.

“She wouldn’t admit it to me during the match, but she was really tired today,” Sullivan said. “I think the three matches on Tuesday took their toll on her. She really wanted to come out and be aggressive, but fortunately she’s the kind of player that can do both, and she made the adjustment when things weren’t working early.

“Both of them looked so nervous that I think they expended a lot of energy early on.”

Velarde won five of the last six games to take the opening set.

Down a set, Cripe came out the aggressor in set two. She hit a few big winners right off the bat and took the opening game. Velarde answered back, taking a 2-1 lead.

As the pressure turned up, both athletes began to struggle with their serves. The pair broke each other for four consecutive games as Velarde held a slim 4-3 lead. She left no doubt from there, winning the final two games and the title. Both participants advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Individual Tournament Nov. 5-6 in Roseville.

“There was a lot of pressure from so many in the crowd watching and being in the championship match, I think that’s why we both struggled at times,” Velarde said. “I did my best to stay on the baseline and rally until I had an opportunity to go for my shot. Today it worked out.

“I just thank god for getting me through my sickness and for being able to be out here today.”

Due to a handful of three-set thrillers, the CCC Doubles Tournament final wasn’t completed as of press time.

Turlock’s Maya Young and Izzy Romeo had already punched their tickets into the championship match with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over Merced’s top pairing of Jaymee Illescas and Lisa Miao.

They awaited the winner of Merced’s Jill Tiu and Ashton Espino and Golden Valley’s Chadue Lee and Paola Perez in the other semifinal.

With darkness becoming an issue, the CCC coaches were preparing for a move of the final to either In-Shape Merced Yosemite Avenue or Atwater High School.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Atwater’s Velarde captures CCC tennis crown."