Nevaeh Luv Robles made it her goal to win a Desert Valley League individual singles title during her time at Coachella Valley High School.
Last year Robles came up just short, losing in the finals. Now a senior, she achieved her goal Thursday afternoon, winning the singles crown and taking home the honor as MVP of the girls’ tennis individual finals at Palm Valley Country Club.
“It feel amazing,” Robles said. “It’s a comeback from last year, cause last year I got second so it feels amazing to win right now.”
In the singles final, Robles defeated Indio’s Sofia Torres in two sets, winning each 6-2. This win was sweet as she had been waiting on this for a long time.
On top of beating Torres to complete her redemption, Robles also beat teammate Kamila Cortez, who beat her in the finals last season, in the semifinals.
“Honestly, I had to improve and change everything,” Robles said on how she was able to win the singles title this year. “I mean everything from serves, forehands, top spin, back hands, slicing, it was a lot of discipline. I think the thing I worked on most was mentally.
“Mentally, tennis is a really challenging game and if it gets to you you lose, you start to give up, and that’s one of the biggest things, not giving up,” she said.
Coachella Valley’s tennis coach Tho Duong was ecstatic to see Robles’ journey come full swing.
“It’s amazing, she’s been working toward this her entire career here at Coachella Valley,” Duong said. “She’s worked hard to be the MVP for the last three seasons and finally got there in her senior season to complete this journey for her.”
In the doubles final, Indio’s squad of Mia Castillo and Lorena Parra-Hernandez defeated the Twentynine Palms duo of Addy Simmons and Marley Kyle. This is the second straight year that Castillo and Parra-Hernandez were crowned DVL champions, but it was to be expected by a duo that hadn’t lost a single match all season. They won the first set 6-2 and the next one 6-0 for the quick victory.
“This feels really good,” said an exhausted Castillo. “It’s a really good way to end our senior year and our last season playing tennis at Indio. It feels good, but it’s like sad at the same time because we won’t be back next year.”
Indio tennis coach Mike Nolasco feels that same mixture of emotions for his athletes.
“I’m just so happy for them to win this a second time,” Nolasco said. “It’s going to be a big loss for us because it’s their last year here, but they’ve grown up so much. They’ve been a big part of this program, and we’re super grateful they chose to do tennis here.”
The Rajahs have big goals for the postseason this year. They have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the last two years, which is a streak they’re hoping to break this season.
“I’m confident that we’re going farther than we did last year,” Parra-Hernandez said. “And our goal and hope is to get past the first round.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Nevaeh Luv Robles is crowned DVL champion; Indio squad earns doubles title
