Lehi Sports
Falcon girls tennis achieves 4-Peat
The Skyridge High School girls tennis team dominated the field at the state tournament and earned the program’s fourth straight 6A championship by an overwhelming margin on Saturday (Sept. 30) at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.
The Falcons finished with 65 points, far outdistancing runner-up Layton at 42 points and third-place Lone Peak at 26. American Fork was fourth with 21 and the other Region 3 schools also earned points in the event. The quality of league competition surely helped them all to do well in the final meet.
At No. 1 singles, junior Bella Lewis entered as the No. 2 seed and lost only two sets on her way to the final.
She defeated Fremont’s Hannah Judkins (#15) 6-0, 6-0 in the Rounf of 16, Riverton’s Addie Hansen (#10) 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals, and Farmington’s Brighton Johnson (#3) 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Lewis took on the top seed, Layton’s Tia Christopulos, in the title final. It was a good match, but the Falcon prevailed 6-3, 6-3for an upset victory and the bracket crown.
At the No. 2 singles position, junior Kaia Sperry entered the tournament as the second seed. In the Round of 16, she defeated No. 18 Amy Bullock of Copper Hills 6-1, 6-0 and then went on to sweep No. 7 Esmae King of Davis 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals she bested No. 3 Eden Conley of Lone Peak 6-0, 6-2 to earn her spot in the final, where she went up against No. 1 Tana Christopulos of Layton. Sperry persevered in a marathon first set 7-6 (7-4), but her Lancer opponent won the other two and Sperry earned the silver medal.
In No. 3 singles, junior Naomi Johnson was the No. 2 seed and got started by beating No. 15 Aubrey Pincock of Pleasant Grove 6-0, 6-1 in the Round of 16 and No. 7 Sophia Packer ofMountain Ridge 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals she faced No. 3 Ava Jensen of Lone Peak and advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win. Johnson put up a good fight in the final but ended up finishing second after falling to No. 1 Victoria Cooksey of Layton 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-1.
The two Skyridge doubles teams entered the tournament as the top seeds in their respective brackets and neither were seriously challenged on their way to the gold medals.
In No. 1 doubles, senior Kylee Sperry and sophomore Andi Armstrong eliminated No. 16 Brynlee Weber and Emmeline Peterson of Farmington 6-0, 6-0 in the Round of 16 and went on to a 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal sweep of No. 8 Brooklyn Young and Sara Davis of Westlake.
The Falcon duo defeated No. 5 Katelyn Ord and Olivia Muir ofCorner Canyon 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals and finished off their title run by besting No. 2 Mia Black and Ruby Bautista of Lone Peak 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
In the No. 2 doubles bracket, Skyridge was represented by juniors Ava Ericksen and Sophia Bleak. They began by ousting No. 16 Brynlee Brown and Ava Ingalsbe of Fremont 6-0, 6-0 in the Round of 16 and No. 8 Rachel Burke and Elizabeth Williamsof Davis 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the pair prevailed over No. 5 Emma Cowieand Lindsy Knight of American Fork 6-0, 6-0 and completed the overwhelming victory for their team with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph against No. 3 Gracie Toole and Millie Hardy of Weber.
The Falcons were coached this year by Ben Armstrong.
