Memorial edges The Woodlands to advance to final
Memorial and The Woodlands have seemingly been on a collision course the entire team tennis postseason.
So it was only appropriate the top two squads from the Houston area squared off against each other Wednesday evening in the Class 6A semifinals at the Omar Smith Intramural Tennis Center in College Station.
Memorial (17-0) emerged with a 10-9 victory in a hard-fought match to keep its season alive for one more day.
The Woodlands (22-3) finished up its season after making a third straight state tournament appearance.
The only losses on the Highlanders’ record came against the two teams playing for the championship — Memorial and Round Rock Westwood.
The Mustangs will play Westwood (20-1) for the state title at 3 p.m. Thursday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. Westwood defeated Southlake Carroll 11-0 in the other semifinal and is seeking its third championship after also winning in 2018 and 2020.
Memorial is also seeking its third title after winning in 2017 and 2019.
To get to the final this time around, the Mustangs had to pass their toughest test of the season.
Memorial defeated its first five playoff opponents by a combined score of 50-3.
The closest any team had gotten before Wednesday was The Woodlands earlier this month in a 13-6 win.
The Woodlands took an early advantage in boys doubles as the Highlanders won two of three matches. Emilio Lopez and Cal Riggs were dominant with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Chase Scholz and Egor Morozov.
Felipe Ramirez and Jose Perez had a little tougher challenge in their match, but they ultimately prevailed with a 6-2, 7-5 win for The Woodlands against Nate Raney and Christo Langford.
Memorial collected a point with Bardo Bucknell and Britton Buckingham as they pulled out a 6-1, 6-7, 1-0 victory against Eli Sam and Nachi Gulati.
Memorial turned the tables in girls doubles, sweeping all three matches.
Sofia Mazzucato and Ahmadi Tara won 6-4, 6-4 over Ahona Chowdhury and Albany Pulido. Huntley Buckingham and Kat Lowry earned a 6-0, 6-4 win against Vicky Conde and Kenley Ramage, and Paige Pesek and Ava Annino defeated Nitya Kaligotla and Eliza Schoenhals, 6-1, 6-3.
The Woodlands took mixed doubles as Maryia Tryubovich and Carson Moore grabbed a 6-3, 7-5 win over Alejandro Ventura and Grace Vuilliez.
Lopez continued to shine for the Highlanders in boys singles, earning a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Bucknell. Ramirez collected a win, beating Raney, 6-2, 6-1, as did Sam, who defeated Britton Buckingham, 6-2, 7-5.
Annino was dominant for Memorial with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kaligotla in girls singles.
But Conde fired back and earned a 6-2, 6-1 victory for The Woodlands over Huntley Buckingham.
Tara Ahmadi earned the third girls singles win for Memorial, beating Pulido, 6-1, 6-1.