Los Banos’ Liu repeats as Sun-Star Girls Tennis Player of the Year

Shirley Liu let her hair down in 2015, so to speak.

Despite dominating the Western Athletic Conference as a freshman at Los Banos High School, winning the individual league title and MVP, Liu never found her comfort zone. She was a freshman on a team loaded with upperclassmen and had trouble finding her place.

“I was pretty quiet my first year,” Liu said. “I was the only freshman but was No. 1 singles player. The majority of the team was upperclassmen, and I didn’t really want to step on anyone’s toes.

“I felt much more comfortable this year. Part of it was I’d been there competition-wise and knew I could play at this level. Part of it was that half the team was sophomores this year, and I felt like I could let my personality out more. It helped me be much closer with the team.”

Liu exuded that newfound comfort and confidence on the court in her second season. Focused on being more aggressive when the opportunity came, Liu was even more dominant than the year before. She helped Los Banos extend its league winning streak to 72 matches, repeated as WAC champion and MVP and reached the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II singles tournament while posting a 16-1 record.

For the second consecutive season, Liu is the Merced Sun-Star’s Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

“Her main goal coming into the season was to develop a put-away shot,” Tigers coach Lynn Barcellos said. “And she did. She wasn’t worried about whether she would make a mistake or not. If she has a chance to put a rally away, she went for it. I think it’s why a lot of her matches went much faster this season.

“She had a lot of power in her forehand, and suddenly she had the confidence to use it. It caught a lot of her opponents by surprise.”

That was evident in the Tigers’ semifinal loss to Central Catholic in the section Division III team tournament.

Barcellos said Liu came out a little passive against Raiders No. 1 Amie Ardis and fell behind in the opening set. Once Liu began to assert her will, there was no stemming the tide, as she rallied for a 7-5, 6-2 victory.

“She found her legs and just got much more aggressive,” Barcellos said. “After the match, Shirley said the Central girl came up to her and said she didn’t know what to do once she turned on the power.”

After losing in the D-II singles tournament in the opening round last season, Liu reached the quarterfinals in 2015. There, she faced top-seeded Hannah Highsmith of Vista del Lago-Folsom. Highsmith swept Liu 6-0, 6-0 and dropped only three games en route to the title.

“I learned a lot by playing her,” Liu said. “It wasn’t just that she was better and beat me. It was how she beat me. She never got mad or cocky, no matter how the match was going. I’m pretty sure she knew she was better than me, but she just stayed focused and fought for every single point.

“Even after it was over, she was really gracious. I’d like to be able to play like that before I’m done at Los Banos.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Los Banos’ Liu repeats as Sun-Star Girls Tennis Player of the Year."