Ferguson boys secure first GMAC tennis title, Palmetto girls repeat as champs
The Ferguson High tennis program has had its share of solid players over the years.
The Falcons have seen individuals win state championships in singles or doubles.
But this season, the young Ferguson’s boys’ squad is its deepest and its first potential contender for major postseason success.
On Tuesday morning, playing in the GMAC championship tournament for the first time, the Falcons made the best of it, sweeping MAST Academy 5-0 for its first title in the event.
Meanwhile on the girls’ side, Miami Palmetto continued its dominance, cruising to its own sweep of MAST in the final.
The Falcons earned a spot in the tournament thanks to a recent 4-3 victory over Palmetto’s boys, who are the reigning Class 4A state champions. The win secured Ferguson the top spot in its district ahead of the Panthers.
Although Palmetto was a couple of starters short in that match, and the two would meet again in the district tournament in two weeks, the victory coupled with Tuesday’s triumph is giving a Falcons’ squad consisting entirely of freshmen and sophomores plenty of confidence.
Ferguson’s lone state singles champion was Jose Andres Ortega, who won the overall title in 2015. Annie Carrera and Jordana Ossa gave Ferguson its first overall girls doubles state title in 2019.
But this year’s boys’ squad, anchored by freshmen Dan Horwitz and Austin Siddens and sophomores Ander Morgan, Aaron Castillo and Xander Cruz, all of whom won their matches on Tuesday, would love to be the first to win Ferguson’s first state team championship.
Horwitz won a hard fought No. 1 singles match Tuesday against MAST’s Alessandro Sanchez, 6-3, 3-6, 12-10.
“It’s always been a battle with [Palmetto]. We’ve had good players and even state champions, but not a team like this,” Ferguson coach Jorge Garcia said. “They’re a solid group top to bottom. This is definitely a confidence booster. The question was about our experience, but they see they can do it and today was a big win for us.”
DOMINANT REPEAT
Despite losing three starters, Palmetto looked dominant as ever in its 4-0 sweep of MAST.
Senior Mia Sorrentino, a Division III Babson College signee, has led the Panthers this season while sisters, Madeleine and Camille Chellas, a junior and freshman respectively, won at No. 2 and 3 singles. Seniors Arianne Rodriguez and Sophia Jarauta rounded out the group, and prevailed at No. 4 and 5 singles against MAST.
“We’re doing really well. In the beginning this team wasn’t as close, but we’ve been through the stressful moments together and you can really feel the strong support we have for each other and we’re all getting really comfortable playing with each other,” Sorrentino said. “We’ve had good match play and good routines and things are feeling really well on the court right now.”
Palmetto is chasing a repeat state title in both the boys and girls divisions and each squad is vying to win its eighth team title overall.
RESULTS
Boys’ final — Ferguson 5, MAST 0 — No. 1 singles: Dan Hortwitz (Fer) d. Alessandro Sanchez (MAST) 6-3, 3-6, 12-10; No. 2: Austin Siddens (Fer) d. Sebastian Felice (MAST) 6-4, 6-1; No. 3: Ander Morgan (Fer) d. Pablo Lopez de Ayala (MAST)
6-1, 6-0; No. 4: Aaron Castillo (Fer) d. Sergio Balsamo (MAST) 6-4, 6-4; No. 5: Xander Cruz (Fer) d. Christian Zaki (MAST) 6-2, 6-1.
Girls’ final — Palmetto 4, MAST 0 — No. 1 singles: Mia Sorrentino (Pal) vs. Isabella Porto (MAST) 7-5 (DNF); No. 2: Madeleine Chellas (Pal) d. Valentina Palanda (MAST) 6-1, 6-3; No. 3: Camille Chellas (Pal) d. Nila Nahuz (MAST) 6-1, 6-0; No. 4: Ariane Rodriguez (Pal) d. Mariana Mazzotta (MAST) 6-0, 6-0; No. 5: Sophia Jarauta (Pal) d. Daniela Sanchez (MAST) 6-1, 6-0.