If a little hard work goes a long way, the Baylor girls' tennis team went miles Thursday.
The Lady Red Raiders were challenged throughout but never rattled in claiming a 6-1 victory over rival GPS at GPS. The win gave Baylor the Division II-AA East/Middle region championship heading into postseason play, while the Bruisers will be the second seed out of the region.
The win the Lady Raiders' third over the Bruisers this season.
"Our girls did such a great job in preparation, and it paid off today," Baylor coach Dustin Kane said. "They've put in a lot of hard work over the past week to get ready for this match."
Baylor had straight-set victories by Samantha Caswell, Harper Caswell, Maggie Crumbliss and McCall Morgan, and Sonja Brkovic rallied from a set down to claim a victory in a third-set tiebreaker.
"That's one of the things we've preached all year, to never give up," Kane said. "Sonja was basically killed in the first set, but she was determined to fight back, and that's what was so impressive."
Baylor also swept the doubles matches in improving to 9-0 for the year. GPS fell to 9-4, but coach Sue Bartlett felt good about her team, which had a lot of games go to deuce.
Emma McCallie had the Bruisers' lone win, defeating Sarah Berchuck 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
"Even in matches we lost, we were close," Bartlett said. "We've played them three times this year, and we're getting closer every time.
"I hope to get another crack at them at state."