RIDGELAND — With her big sister pumping her up, Vicksburg High sophomore Christine Figueroa used a blistering baseline forehand to smash away the competition in the Class 4A No. 1 girls doubles championship Tuesday afternoon at the Ridgeland Tennis Center.

Christine and her sister, Catherine, made up for last year’s loss in the 4A finals by blitzing Oxford’s Mary Bryant Barksdale and Sterling Davis 6-3, 6-1 to win the first state title for a Vicksburg High tennis player since Duncan Howell won back-to-back boys singles titles in 1996-97. The Figueroas are also the first state tennis champions from Warren County since 2006, when St. Aloysius’ Bonny Neill and Jeremy White won the Class 1A mixed doubles title.

“I’m real happy with this,” a beaming Catherine Figueroa said. “We were real close last year, but do to it in my senior year is really great.”

Vicksburg coach Kevin Manton was also elated with the win.

“I’ve never had one in my six years of being the tennis coach at Vicksburg. Jordan Henry made it to the finals a couple of years ago and of course, Catherine and Christine made it here last year and this time they won on the very court they lost on last year,” Manton said.

Catherine said she tried not to think about that. She was too busy charging up her sister, Christine.

Up 4-2 in the first set, Christine Figueroa finished off her service game with an ace to put the VHS pair in commmand. They then broke Davis’ serve to win the set, 6-3.

The Figueroas took control of the second set when they broke Barksdale’s serve in the fourth game. Down 40-30, the Figueroas won the last three points on two baseline smashes from Christine and a backhand from Catherine to go up 3-1.

“When we finally broke Mary Bryant’s serve, that’s when I felt we would win,” Catherine said.

Catherine easily held serve to move it to 4-1, then broke Davis’ serve in the next game. The Oxford pair fought off a pair of match points, but after a hard forehand return from Christine, they were on the brink again. This time, Barksdale couldn’t get a return lob to stay in and the match was over.

Oxford coach Louis Nash said his pair could do little to stop the Figueroa onslaught.

“Christine was the big difference. The last three games she just played great. She took over the match and was the best player out there,” Nash said.

This was only the fifth high school match the Figueroas played together this season. For most of the year, Catherine played with her seventh grade sister, Charlene, while Christine played singles.

Catherine Figueroa finished the season with a perfect 24-0 record, and didn’t lose a set in the process. Christine only lost one match. Finishing her career with a state championship alongside her little sister made this victory one of the best in Catherine’s career.

“It will be one of my last times to play with her,” said Catherine, who is headed to Ole Miss next year but will not play tennis. “I was really pumped up. And I got Christine pumped and she was really great.”

 The Figueroas actually won two matches on Tuesday. They romped past a pair from St. Martin 6-0, 6-0 in the morning semifinals. Only one game went to deuce.

Charlene, meanwhile, was teamed with Grace Ga-as in No. 2 girls doubles and they made it to the semifinals on Tuesday before falling in a tough, three-set match to Oxford’s Felicity Flesher and Erin Dyer 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com