NATCHEZ — Cathedral needed some new faces to step up and get victories if they wanted to advance to the state championship tennis meet.

And that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday at Duncan Park.

The No. 2 girls doubles team of Taylor Beesley and Sarah Beth Willard and the No. 2 boys doubles team of Josh Gamberi and William Wilson pulled off close victories to help the Green Wave advance past East Webster 5-2 in the Class 1A state semifinals.

“They really stepped up and played their A game,” Cathedral coach Marla Beard said. “They got wins when we needed them.”

Beesley and Willard defeated Kaley Allan and Molly Davis 6-4, 7-6 while Gamberi and Wilson defeated Wesley Champion and Wesley Allan 6-2, 4-6, 1-0.

“It was left up to those two matches and we had to have one of them to clinch the victory,” Beard said. “We got them both.”

Other Cathedral winners were Madeline Beard in No. 1 girls singles, Dwain Perkins and Adam Blackwell in No. 1 boys doubles and Davis Beard and Cami Willard in No. 1 girls singles.

With the win, the Green Wave advance to the state championship match on May 4 in Jackson.

Cathedral will take on Sacred Heart of Hattiesburg, which they defeated in the South State finals a few weeks ago.

Sacred Heart advanced to the finals by defeating Greenville St. Joseph in the semifinals.

In addition, Cathedral has three teams that are competing for individual state championships.

Madeline Beard will be competing for an individual title in No. 1 girls singles while Davis Beard and Cami Willard are competing in No. 1 girls doubles and Perkins and Blackwell are competing in No. 2 boys doubles.

“We’ve got three teams competing for individual titles, but it’s exciting to be able to take the whole team this year,” Beard said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to bring home the championship.”