Oklahoma high school girls tennis: Classen SAS' Sofia Acuña, Edmond North's Alice Hsu win singles titles
Classen SAS keeps making history in girls' athletics this year.
The Lady Comets' nationally ranked basketball team won their first state championship in March, and now Classen SAS has its first tennis champion.
Sophomore Sofia Acuña upset two higher seeds on Saturday to capture the Class 5A No. 1 singles championship.
Acuña, the third seed in the girls' state tournament at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center, defeated No. 2 seed Jasmine Crain of Heritage Hall, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals then downed top-seed Ivy Wilson of Tulsa Metro Christian, 6-1, 7-5 in the finals.
Acuña admits she even surprised herself by winning the title.
"I had the mindset of I am just going to stay on the court as long as I can and just make every ball," Acuña said of her stellar play in the tournament. "I had confidence but it is always a shocker when you win."
Acuña, 16, handily won the first set over Wilson and had a 4-1 in the second set when things got tight. Wilson rallied to tie the match at 5-5, but Acuña captured the next two games.
She said it was important to finish the match in the second set and not extend it to a third. Acuña had lost to Wilson the last time she faced her in a third-set tiebreaker.
"My body could have slowed down a lot and that could have hurt me (if a third set was required), Acuña said.
More: Oklahoma high school girls tennis: Top seeds roll through first two rounds
More: Oklahoma high school tennis: Storylines, players to watch at the state tournaments
Acuña finished as the runner-up in No. 1 singles in Class 4A last year for Classen SAS.
"For sure, I did not want to get second again," she said.
Classen SAS coach Kyle Taylor said Acuña is on the court every day working on her game.
"She just believes in herself," Taylor said.
Asked if she thinks she made the Lady Comets basketball team proud, Acuña replied: I "I think I made the school proud."
In the Class 5A No. 1 doubles match, Heritage Hall's duo of Lily Plaster and Grace Shapard won the title by downing Cascia Hall's Layla Drotar and Lydia Hoose 7-6, 6-1.
For Plaster, it was her second straight Class 5A No. 1 doubles crown, winning the title with parner Annabell Treadwell last year. For Shapard, it was her first tennis state championship, but she has won seven state titles in swimming.
She is a two-time state champion in both the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle and has been on three winning relay teams for the Chargers.
"Winning a state championship in another sport has been beyond a blessing for me," Shapard said. "I just came out here and wanted to be part of the Heritage Hall tennis team and see what I could do."
Shapard is the first female athlete at Heritage Hall to win two individual state championships in two different sports.
More: Which OKC-area high school tennis teams are state title contenders?
North, Hsu win 6A crowns
Edmond North clinched its first Class 6A team girls' state title Saturday by advancing to the finals in three events, led by sophomore Alice Hsu's state championship at No. 1 singles.
Hsu was another No. 3 seed to win a No. 1 singles title. She upset No. 2 seed Audrey Brown of Tulsa Bishop Kelley 7-6, 6-2 in Saturday's semifinals, then defeated top-seed Maddie Shelley of Bartlesville 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 in the championship match.
"I was a little unsteady but I was determined, that's what matters" Hsu said of her play Saturday.
Hsu's upset over Brown in the semifinal was huge for the Huskies capturing their first team state championship since 2016.
Edmond North and Bishop Kelley were the two top contenders for the team title entering the tournament.
"To be able to knock her out where they (Bishop Kelley) couldn't get bonus points in singles was big for us," Edmond North girls tennis coach Mike Lewis said.
"Our girls have worked so hard. They've put hours and hours on the court. We have a real balanced team. We are strong from No. 1 singles all the way down to No. 2 doubles.
Edmond North finished runner-up at No. 2 singles (Victoria Ricaurte-Cabasnden) and No. 2 doubles (Izzy Carey and Kadee Miller.)
In addition to advancing to three finals, Edmond North No. 1 doubles team of Gardner Oesterle and Mikayala Stewart defeated Edmond Memorial in the third-place match after dropping their semifinal to Deer Creek's squad of Paige Ludlum and Sindhya Atturu.
Ludlum and Atturu lost to Jenks in the title match.
Reporter Ed Godfrey looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at egodfrey@oklahoman.com or on Twitter @EdGodfrey. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school girls tennis: 2022 state championship roundup
