Doubles team comes up big

It was one of those special moments for the Laguna Beach girls’ tennis team Tuesday.

Laguna Coach Jimmy Gleason said his squad possessed a great “fighting spirit” in its nonleague match against San Clemente, one that saw the Breakers stage several rousing comebacks in a match that ended with hugs and high-fives following a 12-6 win over the visiting Tritons.

“It was just a great match that had some great, dramatic comebacks, to say the least,” Gleason said.

“We hadseveral players stage great comebacks and our No. 2 doubles team of McKenna Nokes and Heather Tran played a spectacular match. It was unbelievable.

“There were people standing outside the gates, waiting to get onto the courts once the match was done, but it was such a great match that everyone was wildly cheering McKenna and Heather on. It was awesome.”

With darkness approaching, Gleason said, in their second match, Nokes and Tran battled back from a 5-1 deficit to win a tiebreaker, overcoming four match-point situations.

“It was magical, like a tennis court of dreams,” Gleason said.

“It was the kind of setting you dream of as a coach.”

Haley Moss won a critical set (7-5) in singles play. The No. 1 doubles team of Lauren Michaels and Claire Jaeger and the top two singles players, Alex Tachovsky and Maddie Jaeger, didn’t lose a set.

Tachovsky won by scores of 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 and Maddie Jaeger by 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. Michaels and Claire Jaeger won 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.