Nearly 21 hours later, Rangel closes out section team tennis title for Central Catholic

Rosella Rangel didn’t sleep much Thursday night.

And why would she have? After the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III girls tennis final was called due to darkness with the best-of-nine match knotted 4-4, Central Catholic’s season rested squarely on her shoulders.

“I didn’t sleep at all,” said Rangel. “Just in and out.”

After driving 75 miles for the resumption of the match, the Raiders’ senior needed only about 10 minutes of court time to win the sixth game of the third set against River City’s Kay Rybikov and give her team its second consecutive championship banner.

The Raiders defeated River City in last year’s title match by an identical 5-4 score. And, just like Friday, Rangel and her 2014 opponent were the last on the court.

“I told her to just go out there and relax,” said Central Catholic coach Christy Perez. “She really wanted to bring a blue banner back to her school.”

Rangel hit balls with teammates before the 2 p.m. start time, nearly 21 hours after the suspension of her match. When Rybikov arrived to begin her warmup, Rangel had nothing to do but sit around and watch.

She looked nervous.

“I felt way more pressure this year because I’m a senior and, as a leader, I felt I need to give my team this win,” said Rangel. “I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”

With nothing in her stomach but tension and knots, Rangel began hitting with Rybikov shortly after 2 and the match began about 15 minutes later.

Up 5-2 and serving for the match, Rangel fell behind 0-15 when she hit wide after a long rally. Rybikov hit wide after another long rally to even the score 15-15.

Two more long rallies saw the players trade points before Rangel went up 40-30.

On championship point, yet another tension-filled rally made the crowd, comprised mainly of River City students, hold its collective breath.

After what probably seemed like hours to the players, Rybikov returned a shot wide to Rangel’s backhand and Rangel was once again Central Catholic’s hero.

After shaking hands with a visably upset Rybikov, Rangel was mobbed by her teammates.

“I felt like she had this,” said Perez, who also admitted to not sleeping much Thursday night. “If I could have anyone playing for the title, it’s her. She has a calmness about her. She can hit as long as she has to; she just doesn’t rattle. She’s in every point.”

Rangel and No. 1 singles player Amie Ardis are the only seniors graduating from this championship club. After last year’s title, Perez lost five seniors, among them, her top two singles players and her No. 1 doubles tandem.

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Nearly 21 hours later, Rangel closes out section team tennis title for Central Catholic."