Gaels girls’ near-sweep nets finals berth vs. Palo Verde

Gordon Hammond couldn’t have hoped for a better start to his Thursday morning.

The Bishop Gorman girls tennis coach probably would have taken a split of his team’s first six matches with Coronado in the Division I state tournament.

He certainly would have been pleased with a narrow lead after the first round. He almost got a sweep.

The Gaels won five of the six first-round matches and cruised to a 13-5 win over the Cougars in a state semifinal at Darling Tennis Center. Gorman (15-1) will meet Palo Verde (16-0) for the title at 8 a.m. today at Darling.

“We had no idea what we were dealing with in Coronado, and we had prepared for the worst,” Hammond said. “To get that early lead is big. Everybody just played really well.”

Gorman swept the first-round doubles, and if not for Coronado’s Paris Reese rallying from a 5-2 deficit in singles, the Gaels would have pitched a shutout in the first round.

Four second-round wins gave the Gaels a 9-3 lead, and Amber Del Rosario’s third-round singles victory provided the clinching point for the defending state champions.

Del Rosario and Chelsea Crovetti each went 2-1 in singles, and the doubles teams of Zoe Lier and Monika Ryan and Julia MacDonald and Marisol Arvilla both went 3-0 for Gorman.

Reese was 3-0 in singles for Coronado (12-5).

■ Palo Verde 12, Reno 6 — Annie Walker and Tia Okano set the tone at the top of the lineup, each going 3-0 in singles as the Panthers knocked out the Huskies.

“They are incredible players,” Palo Verde coach Jane Centrella said. “They’re strong, and they’re mentally tough.”

Sophie Henderson and Chloe Henderson were 3-0 in doubles, and Michaela Jackson and Kristen Newell were 2-1 in doubles for Palo Verde.

DIVISION I BOYS

■ Coronado 14, Bishop Gorman 4 — Gorman loaded up its doubles lineup in the hopes of knocking off Coronado. The Cougars’ Jack Vance and Jamie Vance thwarted the Gaels’ plans.

The Coronado twins went 3-0 in doubles, beating Gorman’s best players, most of whom generally play singles, and lifted the Cougars into the final. The defending state champion Cougars (17-0) will meet Palo Verde (16-0) for the title at 8 a.m. today.

“The Vance brothers have grown up so much in front of me,” Coronado coach Luther Bohanan said. “They’re at a higher level. They’re performing like state champions.”

Coronado swept the nine singles sets as Ryland McDermott, Cassell King and Sam Grant combined to lose just four games.

The doubles teams of Dylan Levitt and Owen Rosebeck and Sam Sholeff and Skylar Davidson both went 2-1 for Gorman (14-2).

■ Palo Verde 17, Reno 1 — The Panthers never let Reno get into a rhythm, breezing to a 5-1 first-round lead, then winning the next four sets by scores of 6-0 before clinching the victory on Rhett Bossung’s second-round singles win.

Bossung, Trevor Johnson and Zack Surmacz all went 3-0 in singles, and the doubles teams of Jordan Baduria and Brandon Sulzberg and Joshua Kaplan and Kota Cook both went 3-0 for Palo Verde, which set up a rematch of last year’s state final.

“A lot of these kids have been in this position before,” Palo Verde coach Zach Brandt said. “They didn’t take anything for granted. They played really well.”

DIVISION I-A GIRLS

■ The Meadows 16, Churchill County 2 — The Mustangs lost a total of seven games in nine singles sets and routed the Greenwave in a Division I-A semifinal.

Abbigail Klein was 3-0 in singles, and Anjali Daulat and Anuja Daulat each went 2-0 in singles as the defending state champion Mustangs (17-1) built an insurmountable 11-1 lead after two rounds and set up a date with Faith Lutheran (17-4) in the final at noon today.

Ava Frazier and Samantha Gondy were 2-0 in doubles for The Meadows.

“Our girls played well,” Meadows coach Frideric Prandecki said. “We’re just putting our heads down and trying to take care of business.”

■ Faith Lutheran 13, South Tahoe 5 — Michelle Reiss and Jordan Harmonay were 3-0 in doubles, and the Crusaders won 10 of the first 11 completed sets to top the Vikings.

Madison Foley was 2-0 in singles, and the doubles teams of Rachel Taber and Chandler Young and Lauren Wright and Talia Graf each went 2-0 for Faith Lutheran, which substituted liberally.

DIVISION I-A BOYS

■ Clark 13, South Tahoe 5 — Miko Pasimio won three sets without losing a game, and the defending state champion Chargers (16-0) built a 10-2 lead after two rounds on their way to a win over the Vikings.

Deric Pang and Andrew Lim each went 2-0 in singles, and Chaitanya Ingle and Marcus Pasimio were 3-0 in doubles for Clark, which will meet Truckee for the title at noon today.

Mark McCrary and Christian Ong were 2-0 in doubles for Clark.

■ Truckee 14, Faith Lutheran 4 — The Wolverines swept the nine doubles sets, with the teams of Colin Gerrard and Teagan Pado, Aaron Deeter and Ethan Cotts and Eli Yale and Brandon Flora all going 3-0.

Jack Stevens went 3-0 in singles for Faith Lutheran (15-6).