Meadows, Coronado roll to victories in semifinals

RENO -- Neither Coronado nor The Meadows has ever won a girls Class 4A state tennis championship.

One of them will today.

The Meadows beat Reno 13-5, and Coronado beat South Tahoe 14-4 Thursday in the Class 4A state semifinals at the Caughlin Club. The Mustangs and Cougars will meet for the state championship at noon today.

This is the first trip to the state tournament for The Meadows, which plays in Class 2A in most other sports. Coronado last reached state in 2007, losing in the finals.

"I'm really excited for my girls to be in position to win a state title," said Luther Bohanan, in his first year coaching Coronado's girls team.

To get it, however, the Cougars must defeat a Mustangs team that is relishing the chance to compete and win against the biggest schools in the state. "It's very special to be here," said Maggie Yahner, coach of The Meadows. "It's special for them and special for the school, too."

Taler Brazell and Amanda Brazell each went 3-0 as the Mustangs collected eight points in singles to key the win over Reno. Singles player Austin McMillan went 2-1, as did the doubles teams of Anjali Daulat and McKay Novak, and Erika Mauban and Shilpa Daulat.

Yahner said she was glad the match was so competitive, helping her team quickly get a feel for what the state tournament is like.

"If you're going to compete, you want to have good matches," she said.

Coronado also won eight singles matches against South Tahoe, with Gabby Smith and Paris Reese both going 3-0 and Chrissy Uriarte going 2-0. In doubles, Nicole Gardner and Sarah Pate were 3-0, and Lea Cohen and Paige Nisson went 2-0.

"I have three good singles players going in, and I was confident they would perform well, and they did," Bohanan said. "I was pleased with that. My doubles teams played well. And I was able to play everybody, which is most important."

Coronado and The Meadows did not play each other this season, but several players on each team are familiar with each other.

Yahner expects a competitive match this afternoon. "It's going to come down to who wants it more," she said. "We're fairly evenly matched."