Arizona high school tennis: Singles, doubles champions in Division I-III
New division champions. Title streaks continued. History created.
Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale hosted it all as schools from Divisions I, II and III of the Arizona Interscholastic Association competed for singles and doubles championships.
Some of the Boys and Girls squads in attendance will continue their seasons on Saturday in the team championships.
Here at the main takeaways from Monday's matches.
Division I
Last year, Tanvi Narendran of Tucson Rincon/University needed one game to beat Scottdale Desert Mountain’s Savanna Kollock in the team state tournament. However, the match ended when the Wolves reached the five wins needed to clinch a victory.
When the two clashed again on Monday in the girls final, Narendran — the No. 1 seed in the Division I Girls Single bracket — said she had unfinished business from 2021 with Kollock, the event’s defending champion. Monday, she closed it.
The University of Arizona commit defeated second-ranked Kollock 6-2, 6-1 for Rincon/University’s first Girls Singles title at the Division I level.
“I just hope that the future teams at Rincon/University will see this and realize that they can do the same thing,” Narendran said. “Rincon is a very academically-oriented school. I just wanted to show that they’re not separate. Athletics and academics can mix.”
Narendran and Kollock weren’t the only singles players with a history. Defending Division I Boys Single champion Lance Urlaub of Desert Vista played Shadow Ridge’s Kai Mills twice in the last six weeks and beat him both times. As a result, Mills went to work ahead of the state tournament, changing the grip on his backhand and serve to commit fewer errors.
Those alterations paid off as Mills became Shadow Ridge’s first Boys Singles champion since Carlos Hassey in 2017. He defeated top-seeded Urlaub 6-4, 6-4.
“I put a lot of work and effort in,” said Mills, a sophomore ranked second in the bracket. “Winning this is really good. It feels great. I’m excited, but I got to move on. I’m going to see him a lot.”
While Mills’ win marks Shadow Ridge’s first honors in a few years, Brophy Prep continued its annual trend of stocking trophy cases. Both of the Broncos’ doubles teams, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the division, made the finals for the first time under head coach Eric Chalmers and for the third time in program history. After two quick sets, top-ranked tandem and brothers Jack and Hank Brown defeated Andre Johnson and Kentaro Akiyoshi 6-1, 6-1.
The Brown brothers had never played together competitively before, leading Jack to call it a special experience since they won the title during his senior year.
“It’s really neat, personally, because I played doubles with my brother too in the state tournament,” said Broncos coach Eric Chalmers, who attended Brophy Prep. “So uniquely I understand how special that is to get to win a state title with your brother.”
The top-seed in the Girls Doubles bracket was victorious as well. Xavier Prep’s Danielle Dyer and Ryan Kershner beat Desert Mountain’s Analise Wachtel and Tessa Wachtel 6-1, 6-2. The Gators’ win continued a successful campaign in which they finished the regular season 13-1 and won their first doubles title since a three-peat from 2012-14.
“I have a renewed sense of confidence,” Kershner said. “They were a tough team, but we were also expected to beat them being the No. 1 seed and also with our other wins. I think it was good to justify that.”
Division II
No. 1 Emily Flowers arrived in Glendale as the winner of the last two Division II Girls Singles titles. Vessa Turley prevented her from getting a third.
The freshman from Arcadia High School defeated Flowers 6-3, 6-2, crediting her net game, patience and consistency as the keys to her championship victory. A large celebration awaited Turley when she received her medal since 30 people traveled to watch her match in Glendale.
“Lots of my friends, lots of my family,” Turley said. “I invited them all to come because I wanted them to be here supporting me and they were cheering me on throughout the way.”
Flowers’ defeat was Catalina Foothills’ sole misstep, as the storied program won the Boys Singles, Boys Doubles and Girls Doubles titles.
No. 1 seed Jared Perry won his second straight singles championship with a 6-4, 3-6, 14-12 victory over No. 2 Matthew Johanson of Greenway, his same title opponent from last year. At one point, Perry didn’t believe he was going to win as Johanson led 8-5 in the tiebreaker. Johanson later missed a shot that would have put him up by two points, allowing Perry to roar back and win in three sets. Perry said his win was proof that “a little margin like inches can change matches.”
Top-ranked brothers Austin and Grant Cohen needed a tiebreaker to win as well, defeating No. 6 Nimith Gurigala and Brady Kroening of Paradise Valley 6-4, 7-6 (1). Gurigala and Kroening previously knocked off No. 2 Nick Feltes and Jacob Goldman of Ironwood Ridge and No. 3 Aiden Baller and Haden Baumgartner of Williams Field before falling to the Cohen brothers.
No. 2 Sophia Silverman and Abbigail Mulick upset top-ranked Madeline Monroy and Kambra Roles of Canyon View, winning 7-6 (9), 2-6, 10-7. The two have been friends for eight years, something that believed helped continue Catalina Foothills’ postseason success.
“We were hoping for it and it feels really great that we got there,” Silverman said. “The fact that we won today is pretty incredible.”
Division III
For the second time since 2015, a student from AZ College Prep won the Division III Boys Singles title.
Andrew Yang knocked off top-ranked Jacob Kauffman of Wilcox 6-2, 7-6 (4). Yang, who led 6-5 before dropping a game that led to a tiebreaker in the second set, knew he had to stay consistent and limit his errors going forward. He did just that, and made school record books in the process.
“Writing history for the school... it feels pretty nice,” said Yang, the No. 2 seed.
Yang added that AZ College Prep’s move to Division II will make the quest for a title more difficult, but he hoped to show he can win at that level as well.
Meanwhile, a familiar face won the Girls Singles title, as No. 1 Nandini Patel of Scottsdale Prep brought home her second championship in as many seasons. She defeated No. 2 Milan Sewell of Phoenix Country Day 6-2, 6-4.
Her Scottsdale Prep counterparts in Boys Doubles, Surya Surandran and Connor Swenson, notched a title as well, beating top-ranked Tyler Tam and Jacques Sevrain 1-6, 6-4, 10-4. After suffering a blowout in the first set, the two regrouped, blocked the deficit from their minds and told themselves they could come back. They certainly did, winning close games in set play to clinch the match.
“We were just in the slumps for a bit,” said Surandran, a member of the division’s second-ranked squad. “As soon as we just picked it up… we had that mindset. We took almost every game to deuce and we just started getting it back.”
To conclude the night, No. 2 Gaby Chu and Sonali Bhalla of Chandler Prep defeated No. 1 Daniela Castro-Martinez and Julia Black of Phoenix Country Day 7-5, 6-4.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Players make history and dynasties continue during Arizona Boys and Girls Tennis singles and doubles championships
