Playing side-by-side, Leilehua's doubles teams swept the boys and girls titles in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association soft tennis championships yesterday at Schofield Barracks.

Mules junior Cainan Shinjo and senior Hector Alcayde won the boys title and seniors Frelen Gacillos and Tiffany Lozano defended their girls title.

The foursome is known collectively at school as "the quad."

Shinjo and Alcayde defeated Kaiser's John Pyun and Jesse Smothermon, 5-2, and Gacillos and Lozano beat McKinley's Irene Ma and Yolette Quach, 5-3, in a back-and-forth match.

"It didn't sink in yet," said Shinjo. "I feel awesome; I feel immortal," Alcayde added.

There is no state championship in soft tennis; the OIA is the only league to play the sport, which uses a different ball (softer and squishier), racket (lighter and slimmer) and strategy (the back player usually stays back) from traditional tennis.

With the combination of Shinjo's groundstrokes and Alcayde's net play, the duo that never played together until the postseason came back from a 0-2 deficit to win five straight and claim the title.

"Lately, he's been doing pretty well at the net," Shinjo said of Alcayde. "When he needs to put it away, he puts it away. When we needed the point, he would get it and finish it."

Unlike the boys' match, the girls' final went back and forth, with neither team gaining much ground on the other. Until a McKinley player hit wide to end the match, the Mules didn't look comfortable.

Gacillos and Lozano, who punctuated every good play with a joyous handshake, credited their win to "consistency."

"It was the key," Gacillos said. "Staying in the point and putting it away every chance."

Lozano said Gacillos' intensity "made me push harder. I know she wanted it as much as I did."

While every member of "the quad" claimed not to pay attention to each other's matches, Lozano said it was "relieving," that they won.

"We're always together," Gacillos said. "At school and everything."

Gacillos and Lozano defeated Gabriella Fortunato and Louise To of Roosevelt, 5-2, and Ma and Quach beat 'Aiea's Linda Lovan and Dawn Nakagawa, 5-1, to set up the championship match.

Shinjo and Alcayde blanked Kaiser's Brantly Yakabe and Andrew Wong, 5-0, and Pyun and Smothermon handled Jordan Lau of Tomoki Imai of Roosevelt, 5-2, in the boys' semifinals yesterday.

Kaiser won the boys team title and Roosevelt won the girls team championships Oct. 6.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.