BOYS REGIONALS: Lim serves Liberty into Sunrise semis

Gil Lim used to worry whenever he stepped to the line to serve for Liberty’s boys tennis team.

What was once his weakness is now his greatest strength.

Lim went 3-0, and the Patriots swept all nine singles sets Tuesday en route to a 12-6 win over host Chaparral in a Sunrise Region quarterfinal.

Chitnarong Sopat and Blayze O’Keefe also went 3-0 for Liberty.

“That’s one thing I struggled with in the past. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in (serving last year),” said Lim, who struggled with a shoulder injury the past two years. “But this year, I feel like I’ve had a new confidence in it.

“My serve was on today. I felt like there were no mistakes. There was nothing that affected my mental game, because I felt like I was on top of it.”

The Liberty senior posted consecutive 6-0 wins over Chaparral’s Donald Lapidus and Edgar Munoz.
But finding himself tied at 2-2 in the third round against Levi Lawrence, Lim found another level and rattled off four straight games for the 6-2 win.

The Patriots relied heavily on their singles play, but Sopat had trouble getting the first-round win before edging Lawrence 7-5 to help the sweep.

Liberty’s doubles team of Matt Dorgensen and Khy Tran gave the Patriots an early lift with a 6-4 win over Nick Hansen and Jelani Francisco, and Liberty hung on for the win.

“I always go to my doubles, and say, 'Get me one.’ That’s been a bit of our team philosophy, to get one point,” said Liberty coach Kih Gourrier, whose team saw matches against Foothill and Green Valley decided by one set. “Today, when we got that one point, it snowballed, and the others started to get points, too.”

The Patriots will play at Coronado at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Martelle Barlow and Matt Terry went 3-0 in doubles for Chaparral.

Coronado 18, Eldorado 0 — At Coronado, Michael Boyd went 3-0 in singles, and the doubles team of Stephen Boyd and Patricio Sanchez went 3-0 to lead the Cougars (11-0) past the Sundevils (7-5).

Postponed matches — The Foothill at Las Vegas and Valley at Green Valley matches were postponed until to today due to rain.

The Falcons and Wildcats will play at 9 a.m. The Vikings and Gators will meet at 2:30 p.m.

SUNSET REGION

Bishop Gorman 10, Faith Lutheran 8 — At Gorman, Cody Miller went 3-0 in singles as the Gaels (10-1) edged the Crusaders (9-4).

Michael Bessen and Jalen Paulos went 3-0 in doubles for Gorman, which will visit Palo Verde in a semifinal Thursday.

Jake Benowitz went 2-1 in singles, and Sean Kennedy and Parker Gatewood were 2-1 in doubles for Faith Lutheran.

Palo Verde 18, Virgin Valley 0 — At Palo Verde, Zach Surmacz and Pascal Nilsson each went 2-0 in singles as the Panthers (11-0) swept the Bulldogs (5-5).

The doubles teams of Alex Karbowniczek and Richie Jackson, and Wesley Mann and Austin Taylor each went 2-0.

Clark 12, Arbor View 6 — At Clark, Joseph Maalouf and Deric Pang each went 3-0 in singles as the Chargers (9-1) downed the Aggies (8-5).

Edwin Onattu and Chaitenya Ingle were 2-0 in doubles for Clark, which will host Centennial on Thursday.

Blake Chide and Quinn Legere were 3-0 in doubles for Arbor View.

Centennial 11, Bonanza 1 — At Centennial, the Bulldogs (9-1) swept the six doubles sets and beat the Bengals (6-4) in a match that was halted after two rounds.

Centennial’s teams of Casey Moses and Brandon Fish, Dallin Johnson and Dakota Trombley, and Parker McDonough and Stevie Riley all went 2-0.