State tennis tourneys wide open

The three state tennis tournaments being played this weekend are expected to come down to the very end.

With shuffled lineups and new coaches being thrown into the mix, anything is possible when the 4A and 5A teams take to the courts at Liberty Park, and the 3A teams start playing at BYU this weekend.

5A

Bingham, Skyline, Alta and Lone Peak high schools are each making a case for why they should be the next girls tennis state champion. Each made a strong statement in their respective region tournaments, especially the Lone Peak Knights, who captured four of the five titles.

Whitney White strolled through the tournament, eventually picking up her first region title in No. 1 singles.

Defending No. 1 singles state champion MaryAnne Macfarlane of Weber High will be on hand to give White and the other No. 1 singles competitors a run for their money.

4A

In the 4A tournament, the team championship trophy could end up going home with any team.

Pine View, a school that is traditionally strong in girls tennis, lost its coach and a handful of seasoned players after winning the title last year. The Orem Tigers, who finished second in the state tournament last season, return all three singles champions from a year ago, although they have a slightly different lineup.

Andie Young, who won her title in No. 3 singles last season, is competing in No. 1 singles this time around, Kelsie Craig will work to defend her No. 2 singles championship, and her sister Callie Craig, who has been moved from No. 1 singles to No. 1 doubles due to a wrist injury, will look to earn a title in that category alongside teammate Candice Gurr.

Bountiful and East, the two schools that tied for third place in 2007, will also once again bring strong, experienced teams to the state tournament. While there are multiple players favored to win in their respective divisions the question is, will any one team be deep enough to win the team championship outright?

3A

As soon as former Pine View head coach Dow Christensen and five of his players relocated to the new Desert Hills High School for this season, all sense of what is normal in 3A tennis was turned upside down.

Now, the newcomer Desert Hills, defending champion Juan Diego, and the always strong Park City Miners are all expected to duke it out for the 3A title.

"If we play the way we're capable of playing, I think we'll do just fine," Christensen said.

The Thunder have worked their way to a perfect 24-0 record in their inaugural season, winning the first-ever region championship for Desert Hills in any sport. No. 1 singles player Morgan Anderson was the only player on the region-champion squad that did not finish first in the seeding tournament; she came in second behind Paige Miles of Juan Diego.

Miles, a senior, already has three state championships under her belt in addition to being undefeated in her high school career.

Upsetting her during her final run is going to be a difficult task for any opponent to take on.

As a team, Juan Diego rolled through region play, finishing with an untarnished 14-0 record. In addition to Miles, Masha Chadovic, now playing No. 2 singles, is a defending state champion in the No. 3 singles division and sophomore Justine Davis, moving to No. 3 singles from her position at second doubles last season, has had a strong year. Both Chadovic and Davis are undefeated in their respective divisions heading into the state tournament.

E-mail: sthomas@desnews.com

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