Two Doral Academy eighth-graders have been impressing at state tennis championships
Technically speaking, Payton Seidle-Lubowitz and Stefany Zamora aren’t even high school kids just yet.
But these two Doral Academy eighth-graders have made their mark this week at the state high school tennis tournament at Altamonte Springs.
Seidle-Lubowitz, playing No. 1 singles, won her Class 4A state semifinal match 6-2, 6-2 over Giselle Adekunle on Tuesday.
However, Seidle-Lubowitz lost later in the day in the final as Jessica Popescu prevailed 2-6, 6-4 (10-5).
“Payton has an all-court game,” Doral coach Justin Puppo said. “She doesn’t get too high or too low, and she plays the points well.
“She’s mature beyond her years, and her volleys are the best I’ve seen for her age (14) out of anyone I’ve coached in the 11 years I’ve been doing this.”
Zamora, also 14, is more of a baseline player, and this is the first year she has teamed up with SeidleLubowitz.
“Stefany and I communicate well,” Seidle-Lubowitz said. “We have good chemistry. It’s fun.”
MORE STATE TENNIS
Palmetto lost 4-2 to Tampa Steinbrenner in 4A the state semifinals. Palmetto played its second straight match without No. 1 singles player Mia Sorrentino, who has a knee injury.
Without Sorrentino, every Palmetto had to move up one spot, and that doomed the squad, according to Panthers coach Kelly Gibson.
Palmetto won one doubles match and also prevailed at No. 3 singles.
“We also won the first set at No. 5 singles,” Gibson said. “It all came down to No. 4 singles.”
Palmetto’s Sophia Jarauta put up a great fight in that match before losing in a tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-4, (1210).
“Sophia was down 9-4 in the tiebreaker, which is up to 10 points,” Gibson. “Sophia fought off five match points (before losing).” “I’m super proud of our team for fighting so hard,” Gibson said. “If we would’ve had Mia, it could’ve been different.”
Pine Crest’s No. 1 boys’ doubles team of Koray
Abramson and Ashwin Chawla advanced to the 2A state finals by beating Bishop Moore’s Calvin Hencken and Lucas Magro, 6-4, 6-3.
MAST Academy’s boys’ team finished second at state in Class 2A, losing 4-1 to Delray American Heritage. It’s the best finish in MAST tennis history.
The Makos’ girls also advanced to the state final where they were scheduled to face Delray Heritage late Tuesday afternoon.
MAST’s Isabella Porto advanced to the girls singles final against Heritage’s Jacklyn Daynovsky on Wednesday morning.
On the boys’ side for MAST, Alessandro Sanchez Zaccaria advanced to the overall singles final and will face Jacksonville Bolles’ Dhruv Pandya.
Doral Academy’s top boys’ singles player Ezequiel de la Plaza will face Winter Park’s Jerold Carroll on Wednesday for the 4A overall singles title.
Stoneman Douglas’ girls lost in the 4A semifinals to Lake Nona, 4-0.