Highland swooped to the top of last year's state tournament, ending the Timpview reign at the top of 4A tennis. With five of the seven players on the Rams squad being seniors, a shot for consecutive titles is not far out of reach at the state girls tournament beginning Friday at Liberty Park.
Chas Foote brings a solid amount of experience to the court, and will lead Highland at first singles.
"He (Foote) loves competing, loves the tournament and it all helps the boys support each other," said head coach Mark Foote.
Timpview junior John Pearce took home last year's first singles title, and most people expect a Foote vs. Pearce title showdown.
Sophomore Jihoon Noh makes the jump from doubles action, and will make a big splash in second singles where coach Foote is confident in the young Noh, " Jihoon is very enthusiastic, never gets down about a match, and it's been really fun to watch him develop. It's business for him on the court."
Tyler Glauser and Preston Larson return for their senior season, and as last year's second doubles champs, the seniors hope to achieve the same result in first doubles.
"Tyler and Preston are determined to finish at the top, and as seniors that is exactly the attitude you need seeing as how this is the last time to put it all on the line," Foote said.
Foote also said that his seniors can provide a lot of their own experience, and that this year's run at the title could be tougher than last year with all the talent coming out of the north in 4A.
"The North Division has been really tough this year, take for example in our divisional tournament four different schools to the No. 1 seed. That's a lot in contrast with the south division where "Timpview swept all the top seeds," said Foote.
Timpview and Bountiful are a solid threat to Highland's chance of repeating, as well as Bonneville sophomore Jay Walter, who fell to Foote in last year's second singles title match.
3A
Desert Hills got the better of Juan Diego in last year's state tournament, knocking out the Soaring Eagle in three of title matches. This weekend at BYU could come down to the same two teams competing for the title.
Jordan Lyden and John Nelson lead the Desert Hills charge at first and second singles, and head coach Dow Christiansen is hoping their experience can relay through the rest of the team.
"I hope the boys take Jordan and John's leadership and use it in a good way, they play as cool as anyone," Christiansen said.
Mason Ford and Jens Nielson will have their chance to move Desert Hills to the top in first doubles, where Ford claimed last year's title and now has a chance to be the leader.
Jake Barman and Hong Pei Lu return for Juan Diego, and have last year's title losses as motivation going into this weekend's tournament.
"We are trying to take it one match at a time, and we've got to outscore Park City and Juan Diego if we want to finish on top," Christiansen said.
email: cjohnson@desnews.com