With the spotlight of center court shining on them as well as the watchful eyes of a crowd, Briana Dalo and La Marano couldn’t keep their composure.

Dalo and Marano lost their first match and were eliminated by Cabrillo of Northern California 4-6, 5-7 in the state championship at Palm Desert on Friday, ending a great season by the women.

“We played in the center court and I got very nervous because I could feel all the eyes watching me,” Marano said. “I started worrying more about not looking dumb instead of concentrating on my game.”

Center court is the main playing court, where the main tennis matches are usually featured and normally has the biggest audience.

“I was really nervous at the beginning of the match,” Dalo said. “But like I usually do, I calmed down and it wore off by the end of the first set.”

If the pressure wasn’t enough, the women had to deal with bad play and inconsistency, two things the women have been pretty good at avoiding throughout the year.

“My overhand was really off, maybe because of the pressure,” Marano said. “But sometimes it just happens that way. Too bad it had to happen in our last match.”

The loss might not just be the last match of the year for Marano, but the last match of her career at EC, even though she has one more year of eligibility left.

“I love playing tennis at El Camino, but I don’t have enough time for a twelve-unit schedule,” Marano said. “I also still need to spend quality time with my family because they need me to be around more. Hopefully, I can be back in two years.”

For Dalo, the year might be over but she is planning to work hard in the offseason so as to improve her game for next season.

“We played good, but not good enough,” Dalo said, “strong but not strong enough. So I’m going to work hard over the summer and fall. I am going to improve my game enough to where I do play good and strong enough to win it all.”