State team notes for girls tennis

April 25, 2014 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


Arcadia: Team finished regular season 13-1 despite its No. 1 being a sophomore and No. 3, 4, and 6 are freshmen. … No. 1 Sabrina Barkdull is seeded No. 2 in her singles state tournament. … No. 2 Kate Byrne reached the quarterfinals last year. … Three of the team’s seniors will miss the individual tournament to attend calculus camp.

Basha: “It has been incredible to watch a great group of girls who are extremely smart and talented work with a coach (Charles Johnson) that created a plan but also with the players who executed the plan,” Basha AD Brent Rincon said. … Program was able to offer a tennis class for the first time this season, obtained chairs for changeovers in matches and filmed matches to break down the tape. … Team spent an hour with Holocaust survivor Oskar Knoblauch this season. “Our team came away with a greater resolve to be mentally tough, on and off the court,” Johnson said. … Records: Jewel Brundrett 9-5 singles, 14-0 doubles; Rahgan Jensen 14-0 singles, doubles 9-5; Katelynd Lesueur 10-2 singles, 7-5 doubles; Briley Rucker 12-2 singles, 14-0 doubles; Chayse Olson 10-4 singles, 10-4 doubles; Kathern Mortensen 9-5 singles, 10-4 double.

Benson: Freshman Carli Merrill started the season as the team’s No. 3 but finished up as a “dangerous” No. 1. … Team’s No. 1 in doubles, Brooklyn Armstrong and Alyx Ruiz, finished 12-2 in the regular season. … Another freshman, Genesis Villegas, has worked her way into the starting lineup after starting the season outside the top-12.

Fountain Hills: Team returned only four players and nine new players. ... School's prom landed during the individual state tournament, leaving the team without two players. ... Team's No. 1 sprained an ankle last week and is questionable. ... But its both state tournament doubles teams won their first round matches.

Hamilton: Team finished regular season 12-2 despite losing three of its top players from last year’s team. … “I don’t think we were expected to do very well this season, but the girls as a whole have bonded, conditioned and trained very hard together to become a much better team than expected,” coach Jeremy Sweet said. … Marissa Gautier is the leader, but the “key” to the team’s success is its depth. Gautier and doubles partner Anamika Deokar are 25-3. “They (Gautier and Deokar) have developed a strong friendship and embraced the Australian doubles format and have worked it largely to their benefit,” coach said. … Team took second place in East Valley High School Invitational and finished first in the Hamilton/Chandler Invitational.  

Lake Havasu: Went 14-0 during regular season. ... Team plays four seniors and two juniors (Allie Cooke, Taryn Liska, Alyssa Scharbrough, Alberta Abram, Katleyn Shuck, Shlishaa Savita). Cooke, Abram and Savita didn't drop a match during the regular season. Abram and Savita also finished undefeated in doubles. 

Mountain Ridge: Team is 11-3. … No. 1 singles Caroline Plecki is 11-3, finished first in the Northeast Region Tournament and in the For the Love of the Game Tournament. Plecki transferred in from Illinois. … The team suffered two season ending injuries to two players.

Prescott: Team lost in the state semifinals last year. … Team has lost only twice to top-5 teams and both losses were each 5-4. … No. 3 Raphael Temple, No. 5 Lauren Mazzella, No. 6 Morgan Feingold, and alternate Bailey Anderson excel in other sports. … No. 1 Kennedi Todd, No.2 Sarah Jane Schott and No.4 Ellis Foreste play year round. … Team doesn’t have any seniors. … “We have good team chemistry, and these players motivate each other,” coach Sterling Fetty said. … This is the first season the team has had a coaching staff. The assistant coaches are Ben Holskin, Julio Marroquin, and Zach Hackerott.

Safford: Team is 13-1 not counting tournaments. … No. 1 Lillian is 12-2 and placed fourth at Thatcher tournament and second in Miami tournament. … The No. 1 doubles team (senior Stevie Southwell, Sydney Williams) is 8-0 in the regular season and placed second at the Thatcher tournament and second at the Miami tournament.

Saguaro: Finished the regular season 12-2 and ranked No. 9 in D-II. … Team’s top players are four-year varsity player and senior co-captain Michelle Fournier, junior three-year varsity player Kalli Hopkins, and senior Naomi Reyes. Reyes played for Saguaro’s state title basketball team in 2012. She and Adrienne Neslund form a formidable doubles team. … “The Cats are, like the majority of the tennis programs in Arizona, a typical high school team,” said coach about his team without any club or USTA/SW ranked players. “But they have an incredible work ethic and a strong will to win, which has led to their success this season.” … Team is 12-2 thanks to also the player of No. 4 Tori Mueller, No. 5 Hanna Kelly, Taryn Blaze and No. 6 Jordan Voth.  

Xavier: Team finished the regular season 14-0 for the third consecutive year. … Defending state singles champ Madison Clarke has been the team’s No. 1 for three straight years. … Team also is home to two-time defending doubles champ, Maggie Cohen and Scarlet Rush. … Savannah Koss and Anne Marie Collins are returning varsity players, and the team added a very “solid” freshman in Lena Sweiss.