NATOMAS, Calif. – Freshmen Kiya and Kyla Jackson paired to reach the semifinals of the Delta League doubles before falling to the pair of Cat Paw U and Lauren Duan of Davis 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) in a close match highlighting a day of play at the Natomas Racquet Club Wednesday.

The duo from Elk Grove normally play singles for St. Francis in dual matches but have plenty of experience playing together and it showed Wednesday. Seeded third starting the day, they won their opening match 6-0, 6-0 over a team from Sheldon and then dispatched Meagan Ewens and Katherine Murdoch of Davis in a tight, straight set win 7-6, 7-5.

The pair returned to the court for their fourth match of the day against the team top seeded Katelyn Stroh/Sam Killian of Elk Grove in a third-place match to determine the final section qualifier from the league.

Junior Avery Spector also played the finals of the league singles championships, falling to top seed Jacqui Tan of Franklin 6-2, 6-2. Both advanced to the Sac-Joaquin section singles.

“Every angle I hit she came back with one just as good,” said Spector. “She is a tough player.”

Spector was tied at 2 in the first set, winning back-to-back games after falling down a break.

“I felt like I got my momentum there in the match,” said Spector. “But soon after she started picking it up and I fell behind. In the second set, I just decided to go for all of it. I hit out all of my shots. It came in in handy in some spots and hurt me in others.”

St. Francis also advanced their two other doubles teams into the quarterfinals. Marisa Fat and Annie Gianulias won their first round match over a team from Monterey Trail before falling to eventual finalists Paw U and Duan of Davis.

“We played a really good team (in the second round),” said Fat. “They really challenged us and we did not do very well. We had a good match in the first round that went to deuce a lot.”

Annie Gianulias and Abby Benvenuti also won their opener with a 6-1, 6-3 win over a team from Elk Grove before falling to the other doubles finalists Angela Donahue and Jenna Mould of Davis.

St. Francis returns to team play on Monday when they host Franklin of Stockton at the Rio del Oro Racquet Club in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

Delta League Doubles

Natomas Racquet Club

First Round

Wilson/Tham, F, def. Zhang/Hoang, MT, 6-0, 6-1

Donahue/Mould, D, def. Sterk/Ayala, PG, 6-3, 6-3

Gianulias/Benvenuti, SF, def. Doung/Brown, EG, 6-1, 6-3

Paw U/Duan, D, def. Tran/Kotstoera, S, 6-0, 6-2

Fat/Khan, SF, def. Tran/Cummings, MT, 6-0, 6-0

Jackson/Jackson, SF, Montgomery/Woldeyuhannes, S, 6-0, 6-0

Ewens/Murdoch, D, def. Chan/Akin, PG, 6-1, 6-1

Stroh/Killan, EG, Bye

Quarterfinals

Stroh/Killan, EG, def. Wilson/Tham, F, 7-5, 6-4

Donahue/Mould, D, def. Gianulias/Benvenuti, SF, 6-0, 6-2

Paw U/Duan, D, def. Fat/Khan, SF, 6-0, 6-0

Jackson/Jackson, SF, def. Ewens/Murdoch, D, 7-6, 7-5

Semifinals

Donahue/Mould, D, def. Stroth/Killian, EG, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)

Paw U/Duan, D, def. Jackson/Jackson, SF, 7-6, 7-5

Finals

Donahue/Mould, D, v. Paw U/Duan, D, Thursday

3rd-Place

Jackson/Jackson, SF, v. Stroh/Killian, EG, 6-4, 7-5

Delta League Singles

Tan, F, def. Spector, SF, 6-2, 6-2