By Pete Borello

For the St. Francis High girls tennis team, this season is all about redemption. The Lancers are determined to make up for last year’s disappointing finish.

“They don’t talk about it,” head coach Lynn Horiye said, “but I know they’re motivated by that.”

Undefeated and seeded second in the 2001 Central Coast Section playoffs, St. Francis surprisingly fell to No. 7 Palo Alto in the quarterfinals. Horiye said the 5-2 home loss “was under bad circumstances,” as he had to rearrange his lineup because a singles player showed up late for the match.

The coach won’t guarantee his team will get past the quarters this season, but it’s a good bet his players will be on time. And all the time and effort they’re putting in on the court is making Horiye more optimistic about St. Francis’ chances of contending for that coveted CCS crown.

“We’re coming along,” he said. “I think we’ll be in the hunt.”

But first, the Lancers have to get through league play.

St. Francis is adjusting to a new league, having moved from the SCVAL De Anza Division to the new West Catholic Athletic League this season. Horiye said the WCAL is top heavy, with St., Francis (6-2 league), Mitty (7-1) and St. Ignatius (7-1) a cut above the rest of the teams.

The Lancers edged visiting Mitty 4-3 last Thursday, avenging an earlier loss to the Monarchs. St. Francis’ other league loss came to St. Ignatius, a team it will face again Oct. 29 at Cuesta Park.

“We’re hoping for a tri-championship,” said Horiye, in his second year as coach.

For that to happen, St. Francis will need to beat St. Ignatius and hope Mitty does the same.

Since the WCAL uses a format of five singles and two doubles, singles play will go a long way in determining the league champ. Fortunately for the Lancers, who sport an 8-3 overall record, singles seems to be their greatest strength.

St. Francis returns three starters in singles. Stephanie Schnitter is back at No. 1, while Megan Kawahara again plays No. 2. Erica Boutacoff, who played at No. 4 a year ago, is in the third slot. All three players entered this week with just a loss each in dual matches.

Schnitter, a junior, is playing the top spot for the third year in a row. Horiye said the junior “is playing quite well” after “a terrific summer.”

The hard-hitting Kawahara and fellow senior Boutacoff have made great strides as well, according to the coach.

Sophomore Jillian Bauer plays at No. 4, with either senior Liz Weeker or sophomore Sandhya Jacob at the fifth position,

Horiye just recently settled his doubles lineup and appears to have found good fits at Nos. 1 and 2.

The top tandem of junior Monica Martin de Bustamante and senior Shannon Conner are 5-0, as is the No. 2 team of sophomores Andrea Schlemmer and Patty Lev.

When the team plays non-league matches - which typically feature a four singles, three doubles format - Horiye uses a combination of Shelly Brown, Katy Greguras or Weeker. Brown and Greguras are both juniors.

Two of these players should get some work in today when the Lancers play a 3 p.m. non-league match at Saratoga.

The No. 3 doubles team will become more important to St. Francis come playoff time, since the CCS also uses a 4-3 format.

“Playing 5-2 in league is a disadvantage for us (as far as preparing for the playoffs),” Horiye said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Perhaps it’s just one more thing to motivate the Lancers.