Lake Nona offsets lineup change and Lions shine
Coming into Wednesday’s quarterfinals of the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A state tennis tournament, Lake Nona’s boys tennis team had not lost a doubles match all season and three of its top five players carried undefeated seasons in singles.
But the Lions knew the real test was yet to come with the best in 4A getting together this week in Central Florida. They passed with flying colors on Day 1 of the threeday tournament at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs.
Lake Nona’s two doubles pairings of Harrison Michalowski/ Kartik Mandla and Diego Martinez with last-second replacement Shay Gupta swept their matches in two sets to kick-start a 4-0 victory over Tampa Plant.
Michalowski and Mandla won 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), taking a tiebreaker in the final set to secure the victory and preserve their run of perfection.
“We’ve all been playing tennis forever, so at some point, we know we are going to lose,” Michalowski said. “You can’t go your whole career winning everything. Eventually, it’s going to happen. We’re going to lose a line. It’s not a big deal so long as we come out winning as a team. That’s all we care about.”
The Lions will take on Naples Gulf Coast on Thursday at 8 a.m. The other semi pits six-time state champion Miami Palmetto against five-time state champ Cypress Bay of Weston, which cruised to a 4-0 win against Sanford Seminole on Wednesday.
Palmetto beat Port Orange Spruce Creek 5-0.
Gupta, a freshman, was subbed in to play with Martinez at the last minute after Jose Ponte was pulled out of the match for an undisclosed reason. That kind of move can throw a team’s chemistry off, but things went fine as they cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 win.
“Our team is so tight-knit; we’re like a family,” Gupta said. “Things like that are not going to shake us.”
Gupta also won at No. 4 doubles and Michalowski at No. 1 to close out the victory.
Lake Nona is seeking its first tennis state championship. The Lions were runners-up in 2019, losing to Palmetto 4-0 in the final.
Geneva School partners Noble Renfrow and Rafael Stahl played for the 1A boys doubles state championship at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, losing 6-1, 6-3 to Dylan Change and Brennon Chow of True North Classical Academy of Miami.
Renfrow and Stahl battled back from down 3-0 to tie the second set 3-3 before losing.
Lake Mary’s girls started strong with two 4A doubles victories in a 4A team quarterfinal against Parkland Douglas. But only Rams No. 1 Jessica Maras won in singles as her team fell 4-3 to the Eagles.
Maras remained in contention for individual honors in singles and in doubles with a victory with her partner, Nyliam Gazze.
Apopka’s undefeated junior, No. 2 seed Alyssa Novoa, opened with a 6-1, 6-1 singles win against Kayla Wheeler of Spruce Creek. Novoa will play Gulf Coast’s Kelly Marie Richter at 8 a.m. Thursday at Sanlando.
Boone’s district champ, Emily Meng, won her opening-round singles match before losing to Ameia Sorey of Miami Palmetto 6-1, 6-1.
Lake Nona’s top girls doubles pair of Elietta Said and Gabriela Almanza advanced with a 6-0, 6-1 win against Boone’s tandem of Meng and Noelle D’Angelillo.
Lake Highland Prep’s Bradley Peterson won his 2A individual singles quarterfinal and teamed with Archie McDonough for a doubles victory.
In 2A girls play, Horizon High ninth-grader Charlize Schmidt posted a 6-4, 6-3 victory against No. 4 seed Isabella Pearson of Tampa’s Academy of Holy Names before losing a competitive second round match.
Boys volleyball powers
The three Orlando area teams ranked 1-3-4 in FHSAA power rankings are in different districts and regions this year — paving the way for all three to get to the May 13-14 state tournament in South Florida.
First up are district finals on Thursday night.
No. 1 Lake Mary (22-1) will host Port Orange Spruce Creek (14-12) in the District 4 final at 7.
Two-time defending state champ Freedom (23-3), which is ranked No. 3, will host Lake Nona (15-9) in the District 9 title game at 6.
The Patriots topped fourthranked Winter Park in a 27-25, 18-25, 15-13 nail-biter at last weekend’s Metro Conference East Division championship match.
The Wildcats (21-2) are lined up to play Thursday’s District 7 final at 7 p.m. at Edgewater High School.
Lake Brantley (18-8) is a slight rankings favorite against rival Lyman (18-8), but the Greyhounds have the homecourt for Thursday’s District 5 final. The Patriots edged Lyman in a five-setter by scores of 25-16, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13 early in the regular season.
Other top seeds are Metro West champ Apopka (12-3) in District 8, Windermere (17-6) in District 10, Timber Creek (15-8) in District 6 and Celebration (19-2) in District 11.
District champions advance, along with teams that secure wildcard berths via power rankings, to regional quarterfinals on Tuesday.