Montross was the Lompoc coach when the Braves had a tough time so much as winning a match point in the tough Channel League when Lompoc was a member of the CIF Southern Section. He has guided the Braves to a Division 3 championship each of the three years Lompoc has been a member of […]
Montross was the Lompoc coach when the Braves had a tough time so much as winning a match point in the tough Channel League when Lompoc was a member of the CIF Southern Section. He has guided the Braves to a Division 3 championship each of the three years Lompoc has been a member of the Central Section.”I knew East Bakersfield would be very athletic,” veteran Lompoc coach Mike Montross said after getting a celebratory ice water bath, courtesy of his happy players.The Braves had seven seniors on their 2024 team. Stouppe and Jansen were the only juniors.Arias and Emma White won 8-2 at No. 2 doubles then Arias won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Arias reeled off the last five games to seal her singles win.Rianna Stouppe and Mia Jansen rolled to an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. Stouppe won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Jansen and White were pushed harder, but both ultimately won in straight sets. Jansen won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3, and White won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4.Velasco won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles, and the Braves took two of the three doubles sets and five of the six singles sets en route to winning their third straight Division 3 championship. Lompoc finished 13-7 overall.”I would say when you were on one side of the court, with the wind at your back, you had to be more conservative with your shots,” said Jansen. “On the other side, when you were against the wind, you had to hit the ball hard just to get it over the net.””I rode the wave as long as I could,” said Montross. “We’ll see what next year brings.” “They’re fast,” Lompoc team captain Gabi Arias said afterward. “They got to a lot of balls. I would say our toughest matches (during the playoffs) were today.”That’s what happened. The Blades punched a lot of balls back, but the Braves did most of the shot-making. Lompoc players hit most of the winners.Again, the Braves seemed to know when to be aggressive with their shots and when to be more conservative in the blustery conditions.The Blades broke up a streak of 9-0 playoff wins for the Braves. Lompoc shut out its first three playoff opponents. In the final, Joselin Sandoval and Aimee Guerrero won at No. 3 doubles, and Annye Rodarte won in three sets at No. 6 singles for East Bakersfield.The Lompoc doubles lineup that produced a third straight playoff run to a Division 3 title consisted of Stouppe and Jansen at No. 1, Arias and White at No. 2, and Rebecca Sandoval and Azra Perez at No. 3. The singles lineup consisted of Stouppe at No. 1, Arias at No. 2, Jansen at No. 3, White at No. 4, Velasco at No. 5 and Lola Soukup at No. 6.Ava Velasco struck a backhand winner from midcourt for the clinching fifth point, and the top-seeded Braves defeated No. 2 East Bakersfield 7-2 at Lompoc Nov. 12 to garner a three-peat as Division 3 champions.Thirty six doubles and singles matches combined in four 2024 playoff matches. Thirty four matches won, and a third straight CIF Central Section Division 3 championship in hand for the Lompoc girls tennis team.”Their coach is a veteran soccer coach. I told our girls the match would come down to actual tennis shots.” A typically stiff wind at a Lompoc home playoff match was blowing during the Division 3 final. The Braves (though their players have said the wind actually amounts to a home court advantage for them) overcame the elements and the Blades’ resilient defense.Nonetheless, though the Blades up a lot of resistance, the day belonged to the Braves.Lompoc’s three-peat ranks as No. 3 among the top Times sports stories of 2024.Lompoc went 1-7 during the regular season in a Mountain League that included two-time Division 1 champion San Luis Obispo, Division 1 semifinalist Arroyo Grande and Division 2 champion Santa Ynez. However, the Braves won all of their non-league matches to finish the regular season above .500 and easily qualify for the post-season.The Braves showed throughout their run of titles that they were content to stay on the court for for awhile thanks to long games and rallies. Their patience paid off in the Division 3 final.
