When Pleasant Grove's Madeleine Mahoney wanted to improve her tennis play against hard hitters and fast opponents, she didn't have to look far for a good practice partner.
The Vikings senior spent last summer smashing hundreds of green balls with the school's No. 1 boys player Carlton Taylor, one of the top players in Region 7 last year.
"It really helped her to work with a lot of speed and power coming at her all the time," Vikings coach Russ Mayo said. "She improved drastically over the summer."
So just how much did the summer of practice pay off for Mahoney? She finished the regular season with a 7-1 mark and won the Region 7 No. 1 singles crown Friday with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 match against Orem's Kaitlyn Craig — the only player to beat Mahoney this season.
"She's smart on the court, has great footwork and is the fastest girl in the region. She's a totally rounded player," Mayo said.
Mahoney will be one of the favorites vying for the No. 1 singles crown this weekend when the top high school players compete in the 4A state tournament at Liberty Park. But she's got her work cut out for her. Last year's runner-up Meghan Kiser from East and the 2001 runner-up Dee Dee Nelson from Bountiful are both back and having good seasons. A few weeks ago, Nelson handed Kiser her only loss of the year.
Craig, who lost only three matches this season and two were to Mahoney, could also cause some damage at the state tournament. Region 6's top player will be Provo's Jessi Liechty. Timpview's Katherine Harrison, along with Witney Johnston of Spanish Fork and Bridgette Strickland of Mountain View could also be threats.
In the No. 2 singles race, Ashlee Gardner of Orem, Brooke Tenney of Mountain View and Jenna Heaton of Provo at Utah County's top players. The top No. 3 singles players are Yolanda Gonzalez of Provo, Shino Tagai of Timpview, Shannon Finch of Orem and Kristi Hight of Lone Peak.
Utah Valley's top doubles team also comes from Pleasant Grove High School. The Vikings duo of Lauren Francom and Skye Johnson only lost one match this season. However, they were upset in the region semifinals by Mary Dyer and Diana Perry of Orem, who went on to win the region's No. 1 doubles title. Lauri Howell and Amanda Daniels of Spanish Fork won the Region 6 No. 1 doubles crown and are no pushovers. Lindsey Griner and Kim Peterson of Provo make up another tough team.
Lindsey LaCognata and Chelsea Olsen of Lone Peak were only beaten once this season and are the valley's top No. 2 doubles team. Payson's Megan Sonderegger and Karen Wells can beat any team when they get hot.
Bountiful and East are considered the favorites in the team title chase, but both Orem and Provo should do well. The Tigers won the Region 7 title and the Bulldogs walked away with the Region 6 crown.
E-MAIL: jimr@desnews.com