Lilly Kimbell of New Braunfels moved within one victory of her third consecutive UIL state girls singles tennis championship with a pair of wins on the hot and windy Penick-Allison courts on Monday.

Kimbell started slow, by her standards, beating Lucy Wu of Fort Bend Austin 6-3, 6-2 in Class 5A quarterfinal competition.

"Lucy is a very good player and my serve was off a little. Just a tough first match," Kimbell said.

"Lilly won 3 and 2 against a good opponent, but at this level they are all good opponents. You don't get to state if you're not very good," said New Braunfels coach David Mueller.

Kimbell was as hot as the playing surface in her semifinal match as she blistered Abby Hayley of The Woodlands 6-1, 6-1.

Kimbell's quest for her third title in three years will conclude today at 9 a.m. against Anik Cepeda of A&M Consolidated.

Cepeda beat Auvi Tran of Plano 6-4, 6-1 and Audrey Wooland of Fort Bend Dulles 6-3, 6-1 to earn her finals berth.

Westlake's duo of Russell Bader and Alex Durham advanced to the 5A finals by beating Mario Urquidl and Erick De La Fuentes of El Paso Coronado 6-0, 6-3.

Bader and Durham will face the New Braunfels duo of Matt Dooley and Tanner Brown, who they defeated in the Region IV finals two weeks ago.

Bader and Durham played first-line doubles in team tennis last fall while Dooley and Brown played second-line doubles for the 5A team tennis champion Unicorns.

Millie Nichols of Lake Travis won both of her Class 4A matches to set up a final against Charlotte Calhoun of Highland Park.

Nichols beat Bailey Van Dyke of Montgomery 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Emma Whitfield of Sherman 6-3, 6-0 in the semis.

Calhoun advanced by defeating Rachel Baldree of Corpus Christi Flour Bluff 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 and Miranda D'Acosta of Wichita Falls Rider 6-1, 6-3.

Other local players advancing to the championships today are New Braunfels' mixed doubles team of Scott Keeton and Hidako Tachibana and girls' doubles tandem of Alex and Sam Adams.