The Meadows boys, girls win 4A tennis team state titles — PHOTOS
The Class 4A girls tennis team state championship match between The Meadows and Spanish Springs went down to the final doubles match Friday.
A win from The Meadows would give the Mustangs the title, while a Spanish Springs win would have forced a tiebreaker round.
The Meadows doubles team of Sophia Gallardo and Cadence Luh came through. They won to give the Mustangs, the Southern Region champion, a 10-8 win over Northern champion Spanish Springs to earn the 4A state title at Liberty.
“Our girls at the very end had to step up and they did a wonderful job in the last set to get that last set point for the team,” The Meadows coach Sean Amberg said. “It was a great team win and wonderful effort by all of our girls.”
The Meadows celebrated twice Friday. The Mustangs’ boys team, the Southern Region champion, rolled Liberty, the No. 2 seed from the South, 12-0 to win its second straight 4A boys team state title.
“This is awesome,” Amberg said. “A great day, great tennis. Wonderful for our program to have both the boys and girls finish the season strong.”
In the girls title match, The Meadows led 7-5 after the second round. Somi Song and Lilo McCarthy both won their third-round singles matches to get the Mustangs to nine points. The pressure was put on Gallardo and Luh when Spanish Springs won the other three matches in the round.
The Mustangs’ No. 1 doubles team was up to the task. The rest of the team, sitting on an adjacent court, rushed the court in celebration after the title-winning point.
“It was definitely very stressful,” said senior Sophia Maxwell, who won two of her doubles matches with partner Angel Hu. “I was super nervous, but excited for the girls. I knew they could do it.”
Song and McCarthy won all three of their matches Friday. It’s the 11th girls team title for The Meadows and first for the program at the 4A level.
“We’re mostly freshmen and sophomores, so I’m really proud of how we’ve grown through the season,” Maxwell said. “Being the only senior leading the team, we started off getting used to each other. We grew as the season went on.”
The Meadows boys roll
There wasn’t as much drama in the boys title match. The Meadows won all of its matches to defend its title. The match ended after the second round once the Mustangs accumulated enough points to win.
“It feels great,” senior Steven Tian said. “This is our third year in 4A, so it’s very impressive that we won it two times in a row. I’m very happy today.”
Tian won both of his doubles matches with partner Matthew Maddox. Alec Kosyagin, Jacob Garber and Levi Schaner all won both of their singles matches. It’s the fourth boys team title for the Mustangs.
“We had lost a lot of seniors on our team (from last year), and then this year we had a bunch of freshmen step up,” Tian said. “That’s something really special about this team. It’s been a fun time playing with them.”
Liberty will host the 4A boys and girls singles and doubles individual state semifinals (9 a.m.) and state title matches (55 minutes after both semifinals end) on Saturday.
Boulder City sweeps 3A
Boulder City also celebrated twice Friday. The Eagles won the Class 3A boys and girls team state titles at Bishop Gorman.
The Boulder City boys, the Southern Region champion, defeated Northern champion South Tahoe 10-3. Boulder City had lost to South Tahoe in each of the last two 3A state title matches.
In the girls title match, Boulder City, the Southern Region champion, defeated Northern champion Truckee 10-5. Boulder City lost to Truckee in last year’s title match.
Boulder City coach Rachelle Huxford credited players Mariah Torgesen and Kendall Shamo for leading the girls, and Logan Borg, Tate Crine, Will Teeples and Shane Barrow for stepping up for the boys.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X
