Prep tennis: Buchanan reaches 4th straight D-I final

For the fourth straight year, Buchanan High will play for the Central Section Division I girls tennis championship.

The top-seeded Bears advanced to the final with a 6-0 win over No. 5 Clovis North on Wednesday, with doubles not necessary following a singles sweep by Sravya Gudipudi, Lasya Gudipudi, Lauren Lee, Sienna Swain, Grace Moore and Komal Hombal.

Buchanan (21-2) will face No. 2 Stockdale at 2 p.m. Nov. 10 for the title. The Mustangs, who have made three of the past four finals, advanced with a 5-1 win over No. 3 Clovis West in the other semifinal. Buchanan beat Stockdale 8-1 earlier this season.

The Bears’ toughest match came at No. 1 singles, where Sravya Gudipudi, the No. 2 seed for the section individual tournament, beat No. 4 seed Elizabeth Schulz 6-4, 7-5.

Lasya Gudipudi cruised past Nandini Nair 6-0, 6-1, Lee downed Neha Pondicherry 6-0, 6-1, Swain beat Nikki Purewal 6-2, 6-3, Moore rolled past Diana Biehl 6-1, 6-0 and Hombal swept Jordan Pickett 6-0, 6-0 for defending champion Buchanan, which has won two of the past three D-I titles.

In Division II, top-seeded Redwood will host No. 3 Bakersfield Christian after the Rangers topped No. 4 Sanger 6-3 and the Eagles edged No. 2 Bakersfield 5-4.

In Division III, No. 1 Independence beat No. 5 Immanuel 6-3, and No. 3 Liberty-Madera Ranchos knocked off No. 2 Porterville 6-3. The Falcons will host the Hawks for the title.

And in championship matches, top-seeded Wasco beat No. 2 Chowchilla 7-2 in Division IV, while No. 1 Sierra Pacific topped No. 2 Firebaugh 5-4 in Division V.

The section individual championships are set for Friday and Saturday at Redwood High in Visalia. The top seeds are Clovis West’s Janie Ellis in singles and the Buchanan team of Lasya Gudipudi and Lauren Lee in doubles.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 11:06 PM with the headline "Prep tennis: Buchanan reaches 4th straight D-I final."