The Palm Desert girls' tennis team stayed focused after falling behind during a difficult opening-round playoff match Wednesday, emerging with a 10-8 victory over visiting Mayfield.

The CIF-SS Division 2 first-round playoff match was tight throughout as Mayfield took a 4-2 lead after the first wave, but the Aztecs countered to make it 6-6 heading into the final wave of action.

Aztecs' No. 1 player Allison Smith had an easy 6-0 win in the third wave and No. 2 singles player Peyton Ellis picked up a crucial 6-4 victory. That put the Aztecs on the doorstep of the win with an 8-7 lead. Nine points was all they needed because they would have won a 9-9 tie due to having a large lead in games won. So the Aztecs just needed one win more from their three doubles teams to secure the win and they picked up two.

The team of Sydney Presser and Sophie Cordova breezed to a 6-0 win to secure the victory and then the sisterly tandem of Victoria and Vanessa Vorwald added the 10th win to avoid the tiebreaker.

The victory moves the Aztecs into a second-round match on Friday on the road against Whitney High School in Cerritos.

Other action

Xavier Prep wins: The Saints, also in Division 2, went on the road and had an impressive 14-4 win over Liberty High. Xavier Prep finished second in the Desert Empire League. They will advance to the second round on Friday and will be at home if they face Arcadia High or on the road if they face Cate High based on the outcome of that match.

Paloma Valley 12, Indio 6: The Rajahs dropped this Division 4 road contest, despite a sweep in all three sets from reigning Desert Sun Athlete of the Week Jessica Ramirez 6-0, 6-3 and 6-4. Sofia Torres (6-3) added another singles win. In doubles, the teams of Viviana Bernal and Sofia Portillo as well as Aleida Santiago and Arissa Chavez each won one set 6-3 to round out the scoring.

Garden Grove 14, Coachella Valley 4: The Arabs went on the road in Division 5 and couldn't come up with the victory.