Xavier wins 4th consecutive title
D-III Estrella Foothills crowned for 1st time as Arcadia ends D-II era with title
The Phoenix Xavier Prep girls tennis team made it four state titles in a row, sweeping the singles round and finishing off Mesa Mountain View in the doubles round on Saturday at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale.
It was 2015 singles champion Madison Clarke leading the way for Xavier Prep (17-0), beating Anya Lamoreax in first singles, 6-3, 6-1, and leading her doubles team with Caroline James over Hanna Nelson and Bella Cosenza 8-2 to seal Xavier Prep’s 5-2 win in the Division I state championship.
“All along, we knew it would come down to us and Mountain View,” Clarke said. “We had a close match with them earlier in the year, winning 5-4. Their girls, Anya and Madeline Lamoreaux, had won the 2015 state doubles championship so I knew I had to win against Anya in first singles if we were going to have a chance to win our fourth in a row.”
Madeline Lamoreaux defeated Scarlet Rush, 6-4, 6-4, in second singles for Mountain View’s first win.
Cosenza then beat James, 6-3, 6-4, to keep Mountain View’s hopes alive.
Xavier Prep’s Jordan Craft then defeated McKinzi Godfrey, 6-3, 6-3, and Anne Marie Collins beat Tatum Hiatt, 6-0, 6-3, to put Xavier in front 4-2.
Mountain View had to win all of the doubles matches to win the match. But Clarke and James ended the match with their win.
Division II
Phoenix Arcadia ended its run in Division II with a 5-1 win in the state championship over last year’s champion, Catalina Foothills. Arcadia will move up to Division I next year.
Arcadia (17-0) faced some unknowns as Catalina Foothills No. 4 singles player Katie Watson withdrew. Watson decided to participate in the state track meet, so the usual order was shaken up.
Halle Zadro moved up to play Arcadia’s Whitney Goett and produced Catalina Foothills’ only win.
“There was some confusion when we found out they were going to make a change,” Arcadia No. 2 singles player Jillian Rasmussen said. “We were confident we’d win but that made things a little more interesting.”
Rasmussen beat Abby Watson, 6-4, 6-3.
Arcadia picked up two more wins when Katie Reed defeated Morgan Chakraboty, 6-0, 6-3, and Isabelle Brown defeated Cody Hutchison, 6-1, 6-1.
“I thought I was going against Zadro, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Brown said. “But I was just as prepared and I wasn’t nervous even though they were the defending champions.”
Division III
It came down to Goodyear Estrella Foothills’ MaKenzie Garrido, who had lost the second set and had to psych herself up to win the last set that sealed Estrella Foothills’ first Division III girls tennis team state championship, a 5-2 win over Page.
“I lost the second set mainly on my own unforced errors,” Garrido said. “So, I knew what I had to do and eliminate the mistakes. I knew that the doubles team of Zoey Nelson and Sheena Coleman had won our fourth match, and then everyone was watching me. I was really nervous and glad it was over.”
Estrella Foothills (17-0) took a 2-0 lead with wins by Nelson in first singles and Molly Bertel in second singles.