Palo Verde tops Gorman, captures Sunset crown

Last season, Palo Verde beat Bishop Gorman in the Sunset Region girls tennis final only to lose to the Gaels in the state final.

This year, the Panthers earned a bit of redemption against Gorman, beating the Gaels in dominant fashion in all three meetings, including Friday’s 14-4 victory at the Darling Tennis Center that gave Palo Verde its second straight region title.

Chloe Henderson and Annie Walker each went 3-0 in singles and Sophie Henderson and Abby Lewis went 3-0 in doubles for the Panthers, who swept all six second-round matches against Gorman and have yet to lose this season.

Kristen Newell went 2-1 in singles, losing for only the second time this season to Amber Delrosario.

Michaela Jackson and Alissa Till went 2-1 in doubles for the Panthers and Zoe Lier and Lauren Willmore went 2-1 for the Gaels. The Panthers won’t face the Gaels at state this season, when two teams from Northern Nevada advance.

SUNSET REGION

Coronado’s girls lost twice to Green Valley during the regular season.

Revenge was sweet for the Cougars on Friday.

Sparked by a surprising 3-0 effort by Lauren Coons in singles, the Cougars were 10-8 winners over the Gators in the Sunrise Region final at Darling Tennis Center.

Coronado (11-3) won its fifth straight Sunrise title and will compete in the state meet, which begins Oct. 23 in Reno.

Coons lost twice to Green Valley’s Josie Legarza during the regular season, but collected a 6-3 win over Legarza in the third round of singles play to help the Cougars take an 8-7 lead.

Allie Doherty and Nikoleta Nikoloff won their third doubles set to increase the lead to 9-7, and Camille Solla and Samantha Ross, who dropped a tiebreaker in their second set, collected the clinching point with a 6-3 win over Green Valley’s Elle Johnsong and Olivia Nhaisi.

Coons and Samantha Smith each went 3-0 in singles for Coronado. Smith didn’t lose a game in her three sets.

The doubles teams of Olivia Song and Daria Shalina, and Racquel Holder and Madeline Smith both went 2-1 for the Gators (13-1).

DIVISION I-A

The last time Faith Lutheran met The Meadows in girls tennis, points had to be counted up to decide a tiebreaker, which the Crusaders won 33-30.

The teams went to a tiebreaker again Friday night in the Southern Region final at the Darling Tennis Center, but there was no need to tally the points as Faith Lutheran prevailed 5-1 in the extra session for a 10-9 win and the school’s first region championship.

Sophomore Madison Foley, Jeff’s daughter, and senior Kathleen Wright each went 3-0 in singles for Faith Lutheran (15-1), which finally beat the Mustangs (12-3) in the postseason after losing to them in the region and state finals in each of the last two years.

The teams were tied 3-3 after the first round, 6-6 after the second round and 9-9 after the third round to send the match to the tiebreaker, in which games were played to seven points, win by two.