BENICIA HIGH’S girls tennis team set a new Solano County Athletic Conference record with its 56th straight SCAC win after sweeping Vallejo on Thursday.

Benicia High’s girls tennis team rewrote the Solano County Athletic Conference record book by sweeping host Vallejo, 9-0, last Thursday for its 56th straight conference victory.

The win pushed Benicia past the Rodriguez High girls team, which had a 55-match win streak come to an end in 2007. The Lady Panthers, who haven’t lost a SCAC match since 2012, can now set their sights on the overall SCAC tennis record held by Vanden’s boys at 70 straight wins.

“I knew at the end of last season that we were closing in on the record so that was one of our goals this year,” said Benicia head coach Lisa Burton. “Now we can aim to break Vanden’s boys record.”

The Lady Panthers (9-0 SCAC) haven’t been tested at all this season, with all of their victories coming by a 7-2 margin or better. The seniors on the team have never experienced a SCAC defeat.

“We just win and we don’t know what it feels like to lose,” said senior Katie Voss, who got a start at No. 6 singles against Vallejo and won 6-1, 6-0. “We’re just out there having fun because we love tennis.”

“It feels pretty good,” senior Lily Hayward said of the record. “I wasn’t expecting this to happen when I started freshman year.”

Melanie Fisher (No. 1 singles), Hayward (No. 2), Madeline Beyer (No. 3), Emily Jewik (No. 4) and Madison Lammert (No. 5) each won 6-0, 6-0. Kati Steineman and Naha Yadav were 6-0, 6-0 winners in No. 1 doubles, with Sam Pacheco and Viva Traver also winning 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 doubles. LaPaula Parker and Sophia Jacobs won their No. 3 doubles match, 6-2, 6-0.

“They’re prepared and are sound players,” Burton said of her Lady Panthers. “It’s an accomplishment for players and coaches.”

“We have competitions with each other to see who can get off the court first,” Hayward said. “Our team is basically competing against each other.”

It appears no one will stop Benicia from earning the SCAC’s No. 1 seed for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Burton’s worry is the lack of conference competition the Lady Panthers have been getting and whether or not the team is truly prepared for the playoffs.

“I know the intensity of the postseason and we have more work to do to get ready for that,” Burton said.

“We know it’s going to be a lot harder but we’re going to do more in practice,” Voss said. “We’re using our league matches to prepare for the playoffs.”

“People who have been on the team before and gone to postseason understand that the playoffs are a lot harder,” Hayward said.

Benicia returns to SCAC action Tuesday at home against Fairfield.

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