Four schools bring home Division I, II, III tennis state championships

Some of the most successful tennis teams in Arizona high school history added to their trophy cases on Saturday.

Brophy Prep won the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division I Boys title, Desert Mountain won the Division I Girls championship, Catalina Foothills won both titles in Division II and Phoenix Country Day won each title in Division III at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale to conclude the 2022 season.

Here's how each program won the team championship.

Division I Boys

Jack Brown was locked in.

Up 5-4 in the second set, the Brophy Prep senior aced Chaparral's Matteo Moss three straight times to reach match point. When Moss' shot sailed out a few moments later, that seriousness turned into celebration.

Brown dropped his racket and fist pumped with both hands. Teammates flooded the court in celebration and huddled around him as he clinched Brophy Prep's first Division I Boys title since 2019.

"Just to be able to finish it out for my team, that was really important to me," said Brown, who is continuing his playing career at Air Force. "I'm going to remember it forever."

A 5-0 victory for the top-ranked Broncos not only returned them to the pinnacle of Arizona high school tennis, but also marked the program's seventh championship in the last 10 seasons, including the fourth under head coach and former Brophy player Eric Chalmers.

Brophy didn't drop a set in each of the singles matches, continuing the on-court supremacy found throughout their 18-0 campaign that included two wins over No. 2 Chaparral by a combined score of 13-1.

"I'm ecstatic, elated for the guys to really get that feeling back," Chalmers said. "Last year was such a tough loss for the whole team. To see these guys, the excitement and how hard they worked this year and to be rewarded that way is great."

Even though a chance at revenge against 2021 champion Desert Mountain fell through due to the Wolves' loss in the quarterfinals, the Broncos embraced the championship stage against the Firebirds, who returned to the title game for the first time since 2016.

Sophomore Andre Johnson, who won the No. 5 singles match 6-0, 6-1 over Jeremy Lee, found that Brophy came out with good pace and energy. Meanwhile, the players were supported by a number of fellow students and spectators. Many of them donned red clothing to symbolize one of the school colors.

Some of the attendees were members of the Broncos' lacrosse program that won yesterday's state championship.

"It just represents how close the Brophy community is," Johnson said.

Division I Girls

Before its doubles contests, No. 1 Desert Mountain took the opportunity to create a clean slate.

The Wolves had failed to clinch the state title against second-ranked Xavier Prep in singles play, but needed just one match to win it all. So they talked strategy and prepared themselves for the task ahead, rather than focusing on previous games.

"We all support each other," head coach Kim Dever said. "We knew what we had to do going into the doubles."

They certainly did, as the Wolves won their second straight Division I Girls title and fourth since 2017. The 5-2 victory earned the Wolves an 18-0 record and their second consecutive undefeated championship season under Dever.

Desert Mountain's No. 3 doubles squad, sophomores Reese Schibel and Chae Rin Youn, delivered the title-clinching win.

"Once we won the point, I think my entire heart just filled with joy," Schibel said. "I wanted to win it for our amazing seniors and obviously my amazing partner. It was a really special moment."

After not dropping a game to their previous three postseason opponents, the Wolves earned the first victory of the championship as freshman Tessa Wachtel defeated Xavier Prep's Victoria Chrostowski 6-0, 6-0. Other wins soon came from junior Julia Frazier, Youn, and senior Analise Wachtel, who rebounded from a first set defeat to win 6-7(5), 6-0, 10-7.

Even though Schibel and Savanna Kollock fell in their singles matches, Dever remained confident because she believed her singles players and doubles teams were equally strong. She was soon proved right, as each tandem led 7-2 in games to eight ahead of Schibel and Youn's win.

Both players and Kollock believe this year's title is significant in that it not only raises the team's profile as a year-in, year-out contender, but also represents the power of the Wolves' team unity. Youn added that many of the team members are close with one another and train together.

"I think the girls love it that they keep the tradition of winning each year," Dever said. "We're hoping next year we come back just as strong."

Division II Boys

Following No. 1 Catalina Foothills' championship match, junior Grant Cohen recalled that people thought the Falcons were beatable, despite them earning the singles and doubles titles on Monday and winning every team championship since 2014.

So this afternoon, Cohen and his teammates made sure to prove the doubters wrong with an 5-0 victory over No. 3 Estrella Foothills that gave Catalina Foothills its eighth consecutive Division II title.

"The win definitely cements us as the top team," Cohen said, "and continuing the legacy."

The Falcons' top three singles players -- junior and Division II singles winner Jared Perry, Cohen and his brother Austin, the division doubles winners -- set the tone with 6-0, 6-0 victories, while Jason Jia, Nico Barrutia-Pierson and Santiago Lietzau helped clinch the title.

Head coach Jeffrey Bloomberg credited his team's fast start to a strong overall performance, which is promising for the future since the entire starting roster returns next year.

Bloomberg inserted three new players into the lineup this season, which paid off well as the Falcons allowed just 12 total games across today's matches and one point during its playoff run.

Catalina Foothills' title clinched the team's first undefeated season (17-0) since 2019.

"I definitely think we're going to try to be right back," Cohen said. "Get it again. Go for two."

Division II Girls

In each of Catalina Foothills' last three team state titles, the No. 1 Falcons won 5-0 to clinch the championship before doubles competition.

That changed Saturday, as the Falcons led 4-2 after singles play. But concern couldn't be found in coach Daniel Root and his players. Instead, they radiated confidence.

"Our doubles team is the defending state champion," Root said. "They were going to win this match. I had 100 percent, a million confidence in them. We've just got super strong doubles teams."

He was right, as Catalina Foothills clinched their fourth straight state championship and a 17-0 record following the retirement of one of No. 3 Arcadia's top doubles team. According to Arcadia head coach Brian Corte, one of the players was suffering "significant, repeated cramping" and as a result, the tandem made the decision to retire and "not risk physical injury."

Reigning Division II doubles champions Abbigail Mulick and Sophia Silverman, along with Serena Hsu and Morgan Filer, won their singles matches in dominant fashion, giving up just six games collectively. Hsu defeated her opponent, Ashley Cowley, 6-0, 6-0.

However, both Emily Flowers and Adele Fereres lost their singles contests. Flowers, committed to play college tennis at Xavier, fell to reigning state singles champion Vessa Turley, who beat her on Monday in the state singles title match.

"Me and the whole team had the same energy when I lost that match as who cares that I lost, it doesn't matter," said Flowers, who lost in three sets. "We are still up four matches to two and we are going to go into doubles and we are going to win."

They did just that, something that Hsu believes will impact the future of the program.

"It's a great moment that will go down in history," she said. "I feel like it's going to inspire other people because today was a really hard match. The fact that we're resilient and we kept pushing and we were being really strong I think is going to inspire future Catalina Foothills players to strive for that legacy that we always have."

Division III Boys

Sam Tepper remembers how the Phoenix Country Day Eagles' Boys Tennis team not only made the state finals when he was a freshman, but also helped build a strong culture.

So over the last three years, Tepper and his teammates have been carrying on their principles by teaching younger players and leading by example. Those lessons, he believed, helped the top-ranked Eagles win their second straight Division III team title on Saturday night over No. 2 AZ College Prep.

"The culmination of everything shows how powerful this program is," Tepper said, "not only at winning championships, but in reading great players and really great people."

Under 27-year head coach Jerry Keever, Phoenix Country Day won back-to-back titles for the first time since 2009-10. Keever called the title "tremendous" and that it was driven by a "combination of talent" and a "combination of will."

The Eagles' 5-1 victory came in the final singles match of the night as senior Ashton Kroeger, the 2019 and 2021 division singles champion (competition wasn't held in 2020 due to COVID-19), faced off against Andrew Yang, the reigning Division III singles winner. Kroeger won the first set 6-4, lost the second 2-6, and won the tiebreaker 10-5, a rally he admitted may not have happened without the support of his teammates.

"The energy was immaculate and looking over and seeing all of my friends that I've played tennis with for four-plus years... it was just a feeling that I'll never forget," Kroeger said.

Tepper quickly jumped in to add that there is nothing like the feeling of rushing the court after a victory, especially one that clinched his team's 15-0 record following a regular season with a 98-1 mark in match play.

Even though the four seniors are graduating soon, they are confident that future teams will successfully follow in their championship footsteps.

"It meant a lot for me," senior Tanti Felli said. "For the school to win this championship, it's amazing just to see the pure happiness on all my friends' faces."

Division III Girls

Elsa Jackson has spent four years on Phoenix Country Day's Girls Tennis team. The senior and her teammates spent numerous hours practicing and working towards a key goal: the Division III team state title.

On Saturday, Jackson and her teammates finally achieved that aspiration as the No. 2 Eagles defeated No. 4 Scottsdale Prep, 5-0, for their first championship in a decade.

"It means so much to have this reward," Jackson said, "and to be able to come out of it in a very special way."

2022 marked the first time since 2009 that both Phoenix Country Day's Boys and Girls Tennis teams won the Division III state title in the same year.

"We were taking it step-by-step and just really having intention between each of our plays and focusing on each point," senior Daniela Castro-Martinez said. "That was what led to our success."

The Eagles came into the team state title match with a lot of momentum after going undefeated in the regular season and earning a 98-1 record in match play alongside the Boys team. Beating three postseason opponents by a combined score of 15-1 helped as well.

The Eagles asserted themselves on the court by not giving up more than three games in any singles matches behind the strong showing of players including Castro-Martinez, Milan Sewell, Julia Black and Misha Ghafouri.

Ayelet Jaffee and Taylor Black played key roles as well, winning their matches 6-3, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1, respectively. Today's victory gave Phoenix Country Day a 15-0 overall record.

"To me, they are my family," Castro-Martinez said. "I just love them so much. We've had so many great memories together. It's been so worth it and so rewarding that we've been able to pull this out. I'm just so happy right now."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Brophy Prep, Desert Mountain, Catalina Foothills bring home Division I, II tennis state championships