Before each match, the Auburn Mountainview girls tennis program picks an inspirational quote to spur the players on as they battle to a South Puget Sound League 3A title.

This past Tuesday, as the team prepared to take on the Sumner Spartans in league play at Auburn Mountainview, the quote was this: “I don’t quit when I’m tired, I quit when I’m done.”

As the 12-0 Lions swung and served and volleyed to a 5-0 victory, head coach Kay Lorrain talked about her team.

“That [quote] sums up everybody’s work ethic out here,” Lorrain said. “They’re going to fight for every last point that they can get out here. And that makes a big difference.”

This year the Auburn Mountainview girls are bent on achieving two goals.

Their first is to win the SPSL 3A league team title, which would be the first for the program.

Currently the team is comfortably seated atop the league standings with a perfect 12-0 record and just three league contests remaining, against Lakes, Peninsula and Auburn Riverside.

With the league’s second-place team, Enumclaw, lagging behind at 7-2, the title looks like a sure thing.

“We have quite the team this year, a lot of depth,” Lorrain said. “They’re young, but they’re just natural tennis players. They play wherever I ask them to play. They work hard. And we have some experience. It’s been fun.”

Lorrain singled out the efforts of the team captains, senior Celeste Andreotti and junior Lauren Kearny, who are also the squad’s No. 1 doubles team.

“[They] are great leaders, they encourage everybody,” Lorrain said. “They all push each other and have a lot of fun. And yet we work hard.”

Second on the team’s to-do list this season, finding success in the postseason.

Lorrain said the team is already beginning to fit together combinations of doubles and singles teams that would have the most impact in the postseason tourneys.

“Now we work on strengthening our one and two doubles and solidifying who we’re going to put in singles,” Lorrain said. “We like to look beyond districts and on to state.”

Beyond the No. 1 doubles team of Andreotti and Kearney, nothing is set in stone.

The team has a corps of young players capable of plugging into almost any spot on the roster, Lorrain said.

For most of the season junior Leanna Harris has played at the No. 1 singles spot, but Lorrain said she is considering teaming her up with junior Sierra Silva, who competed at the state tourney last year with doubles partner Victoria Bolshakova, who is not with the team this year.

“At this point we’re looking at the postseason and where we’re going to put kids,” she said. “Sierra was in state last year, but losing Victoria as a partner, we’re trying to decide whether to put her in doubles with someone else, or into singles. We have to look at the rest of the league and the south, those Vancouver teams. We have to spy on them. It’s all strategy and what the kids want too. It’s not all my decision. I ask them what they feel like they should do.”

Lorrain said she’s confident the team will make noise at the state level this season, and even more confident the team will hang its first banner in the Auburn Mountainview gym.

“We’re in the gym a lot, and I keep score for basketball and volleyball,” Lorrain said. “And the singer comes along, and we’re all looking up at the flag. And right next to the flag is the tennis banner with nothing underneath. And I think ‘this is our year.’ We’ve been saying it all year, we’re going to get the league banner. And here we are at [12-0]. It’s not over yet, but we’re working our way there, one match at a time.”

The Lions wrap up the regular season at 3:30 p.m. May 7 at Auburn Riverside High School.

The West Central District III 3A tournament is May 22-23 at the Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma.

The Washington State 3A Girls tournament is May 29-30 in Kennewick.

ALSO: Auburn Riverside is in third place in the SPSL 3A, with a 7-3 league record, 8-4 overall. No. 1 singles player Jessica Fulford and the No. 1 doubles team of Carson Heilborn and Lindsey Sanborn lead the team. Auburn is in fourth-place in league with a 5-6 record. The Trojans are led by No. 1 singles Alyssa McMahon and the No. 1 doubles team of Kelsi Green and Mikah Loomis.