SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — The San Juan Hills girls tennis team knocked off top-seeded Palm Desert 12-6 on Friday to win the CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship.

San Juan Hills was not in the top 10 in the CIF poll at the end of the regular season, and it finished in third place in the South Coast League.

Palm Desert came into the playoffs undefeated and was the top-ranked team in the division for most of the season.

Despite all that, the Stallions did not consider themselves an underdog.

“With no preseason, (there’s) nobody to compare to,” San Juan Hills coach Tim DiLeo said. “We weren’t a dark horse or anything, but we had to win tough matches.”

DiLeo believes that playing the top teams in the South Coast League prepared the Stallions for a deep playoff run.

“The only reason why a third-place team in a league wins a title like this is because we had to go up against Dana Hills, Aliso Niguel and San Clemente,” DiLeo said. “It hardens you. They took their losses. They were hurt by that feeling of loss earlier in the year. They weren’t going to lose this thing.”

San Juan Hills jumped to a 5-1 lead after the first round and held a 9-3 edge after the second.

The Stallions won seven of the nine doubles matches. The doubles team of Bailey Smolinski and Samantha Freeman swept their doubles matches.

“I tried to tell the team to pretend like we were losing,” San Juan Hills junior standout Kaia Wolfe said. “Every match counts, every point counts, so we had to keep our intensity and finish it.”

Wolfe was the standout singles player for the Stallions. The junior swept her three singles matches.

“I was pretty nervous. I really try to stay calm, that’s the biggest part that I take pride in,” Wolfe said. “I’m obviously going crazy on the inside and not calm. I know I have a team, I know I have people behind me to support me. I know everything’s OK and I am just going to go and play my best tennis.”

The Stallions were led by seniors Nadine Tong and Freeman. Tong and her partner Jenna Huff won two of their doubles matches. Sophomore Sydney Wolfe won two of her singles matches.