Coronado cruises to Sunrise title
Unbeaten Cougars roll to state tourney berth
First-year Coronado boys tennis coach David Willingham thought on the first day of practice that the Cougars could make a run at the Class 4A state championship.
He was right.
Coronado coasted to a 12-6 victory over Green Valley on Thursday afternoon at the Darling Tennis Center to clinch the Class 4A Sunrise Region championship and a berth in the state tournament, which begins Oct. 19.
Jack Hambrook and Akhil Mohan went 3-0 in doubles to lead the Cougars (13-0).
“Being new, it’s been pretty exciting,” Willingham said. “I knew we had some players and I knew they were close last year, so I knew that they had a good shot this year.”
Ethan Quandt said the Cougars were confident throughout the season and spoke highly of Willingham.
“He knew what he was doing, all around,” Quandt said. “Couldn’t say any worse words than he was great.”
Ryan Elezra was 3-0 singles for Green Valley (10-3), which will meet Palo Verde (13-3) in a state play-in match at Darling Tennis Center on Oct. 16.
Clark earned its spot in the 4A state tournament with an 11-7 victory over the Panthers in the Sunset Region final.
Artem Iermolov was 3-0 in singles for the Chargers (17-0).
Interim coach Jordan Zimmel celebrated with his players after the match, enjoying the fruits of his half-season of labor in relief of head coach Clarence Chun, who took a leave of absence for health reasons.
“All I was told is that we had a good team and that we were shooting for regionals, shooting for playoffs,” Zimmel said. “Once we beat Gorman (on Sept. 15), I knew we were one of the top teams.”
Boulder City (18-0) won the 3A Southern Region with a 10-8 victory over defending state champion The Meadows (15-1).
Girls
The rule of thumb to be a member of Bishop Gorman’s girls tennis team is simple: Everyone must learn to play doubles.
Since Gordon Hammond knows there isn’t an blueprint for drawing up pairings — as it could be based off talent level, personality or friendship — the Gaels coach constantly alters his lineup.
“We never have a set lineup until like the very, very end,” Gorman senior Emma Figueredo said. “Even then, it’s still shaky. We just all play with each other and see which ones work. The 1-2-3 (lineup placement) doesn’t even matter. We can all play.”
And they showed that in the Class 4A Sunset Region final Thursday.
Figueredo and Madison Winston, and Olivia Maalouf and Karissa Matthews each went 3-0 in doubles to help the Gaels secure their first region title since 2015 with an 11-7 victory over Faith Lutheran at Darling Tennis Center.
The doubles teams won eight of nine possible points to pace Gorman (15-1).
Jade Mayweather and Kennedy Barr both went 3-0 in singles for Faith Lutheran (15-4), which faces Green Valley (10-3) in a state play-in match at The Meadows on Oct. 16.
Coronado won its second consecutive Sunrise Region title with a 15-3 win over Green Valley at Darling Tennis Center.
Jessica Duff and Mana Iritani, Rayne Hayes and Sophia Potamitis, and Ava Nhaisi and Sidra Wohlwend each went 2-0 in doubles, and Hannah Grossman went 2-0 in singles to pace Coronado (13-0).
Daria Shalina went 2-1 in singles for Green Valley (10-3), which faces Faith Lutheran (15-4) in a state playin match at The Meadows on Oct. 16.
The Meadows (15-1) won its third consecutive region championship with a 13-5 win over Boulder City (16-2) in the 3A Southern Region final at Darling Tennis Center.