First-year St. Joseph girls tennis coach David Valencia said Thursday that the match against Cabrillo could have been a “trap” for his squad.

That is, the Knights could have been trapped into looking past the Conquistadores to their showdown at past nemesis Santa Ynez at 3:30 p.m. next Tuesday.

He had just seen his players stay out of the trap. The Knights scored a convincing 13-5 win at St. Joseph. They stayed perfect in the Los Padres League and gave Cabrillo its first league loss.

The Knights are 5-0 in the LPL and 6-1 overall. The Conquistadores are 4-1 in the LPL. St. Joseph stayed on track for its match-up against the team it shared the league title with last year. Cabrillo, St. Joseph, Santa Ynez and Morro Bay all had a slice of the 2006 LPL title.

St. Joseph senior Shelby Brooks said Cabrillo's unbeaten league record helped the Knights stay out of a looking-ahead trap. “We knew Cabrillo was good,” she said. “We knew this was going to be a hard match.”

“We just tried to stay positive,” said Brooks' partner, Sammy White. Positive thinking worked pretty well for the Knights.

They racked up seven points in singles and six more in doubles. Ane McPike, at No.1 singles, and Frankie Eszes, at No. 2, swept three sets each.

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Kayla Zimmer and Ellie McPike, Ane's freshman sister, took three sets at No. 2 doubles. Brooks and White, who are in their first full season of playing together, won twice at No. 1 doubles.

Lanae Magers and Katy Carlson were the only Conquistadores who won more than one set. They took two sets at No. 2 doubles.

“I was very proud of our girls,” said Valencia. “They were focused. They played hard.”

The Knights showed early that they weren't going to wander into any anticipation trap.

There was two-time defending Los Padres League singles champ McPike staying out of that trap by pounding in first serve after first serve in her first-round set against Julia Leyva. There was Victoria Thomas staying out of that trap and finishing off a first-round doubles win for herself and partner Julia Villanueva with a backhand volley winner at the net.

“Actually, I didn't think my first serve was on today at all,” McPike said afterward. “It felt a little off.” She got in enough during the day to sweep her sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-1.

The Knights led 5-1 after one round.

“We got off to a slow start,” said Derrick Wong. “Maybe it was nerves.” Wong was filling in for Cabrillo coach Mary Beth Stieber Thursday. Wong said Stieber will attend her daughter's wedding in Iowa this weekend.

Wong said, “We played better in the second and third rounds. We played like we are supposed to play. We lost some sets the second and third rounds, but we hit better strokes.”

McPike's a senior, and she's said she and her teammates are tired of sharing the league title. She also said she and her teammates knew they weren't in for a gimme win against Cabrillo.

“We know they have a strong team,” said McPike. “They have strong doubles players and consistent singles players.” She's unbeaten in singles sets this year.

St. Joseph freshman Frankie Eszes has lost one league singles set this year. That loss came before Thursday. She used a consistent forehand to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 sweep against Cabrillo.

She's relishing her good health this season. A bad back bothered her most of her freshman year.

“My back has been good,” this year, Eszes said. “It took a year-and-a-half to heal, but it is 100 percent healthy.”

Valencia said he thinks the match at Santa Ynez next Tuesday will come down to doubles play. The Knights gave themselves some encouragement with those six doubles points Thursday.

“We have good, smart doubles players,” said Eszes. “They come to the net and volley well.”

Knights players said they like the way things are progressing for their team going into The Big One.

“We're really meshing well,” said Brooks.

Eszes said, “We play to win, but we have fun doing it. That's what makes us such a good team.”

Morro Bay 13, Santa Maria 5

The Saints (0-5, 0-7) got five doubles points but couldn't overcome a singles sweep for the Pirates (2-2 LPL) at the Minami Center.

Tandems Kyla Johnson and Denise Natividad, and Miriam Hernandez and Eunice Gonzales each won two sets for Santa Maria.

Santa Ynez 12, Templeton 6

Nathalia Chaddad swept 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles at Templeton as the Pirates (4-0, 8-1) stayed on course for their showdown with St. Joseph next week.

Lauren Swift and Emily Ineman won both their sets at No. 1 doubles for Santa Ynez. The Pirates substituted liberally.

Nipomo 10, Atascadero 8

Tessa Underwood and Jenny Cardenas swept three doubles sets at Atascadero as the Titans squared their PAC-7 League record at 2-2 and their overall record at 3-3.

Underwood and Cardenas swept at No. 1 doubles. Katie Russ (No. 1 singles) and Grecia Pena (No. 2) won two sets each for Nipomo.

Arroyo Grande 13, Paso Robles 5

Arroyo Grande's Allie Martin swept her sets in singles, leading Arroyo Grande to its fifth win on the season, and kept the Eagles perfect in league at 4-0.

The Eagles' No. 2 doubles team of Sienna Robertson and Emily Carlson also swept their sets 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

“The score was not reflective of the match,” Arroyo Grande coach Lori Hollister said, referring to the Eagles' pulling out three close tiebreakers with the Bearcats.

SLO 16, Pioneer Valley 2

Caitlyn Brown and Caiti Dolores scored the only points at San Luis Obispo for the Panthers (1-4 PAC-7 League, 3-4 overall). Brown lost a league set for the first time this season.

Lompoc 10, Righetti 8

The Braves (2-4) won a non-league match at Righetti thanks to three-set sweeps by doubles tandems Maria Morales and Dana Campitelli, and Elicity Fabing and Kaitlin Munoz.

Morales and Campitelli played at No. 1 doubles. Fabing and Munoz played at No. 2.

The Braves overcame a three-set sweep by Righetti's No. 3 singles player, Katy Veroski. The Warriors dropped to 2-6.

Water polo

Villa Park Tournament

VILLA PARK - Righetti, doing without star goal keeper Tom Ross lost a tournament game 13-9 to La Cañada.

Righetti coach Kyle Shaffer said Ross broke a toe Monday night. He said he was unsure how long Ross would be out. “Obviously, (Ross's absence) hurt,” the coach said.

Kyle Stevens made eight saves for the Warriors (5-5) in Ross's place. Matt Johnson, Vincent Martel, Josh Grall and Kevin Ostrin all scored twice for Righetti.

The Warriors play Cerritos at 3:40 p.m. today in another tournament.

Oct. 3, 2008