It’s going to be a dogfight. There are a lot of good teams out there and I expect a close tournament again this year. – Lone Peak coach John La Cognata said.
The 2015 girls tennis high school state tournament will begin in late September and go into mid October. The winning schools will be the ones with the best all-around team. Just because one school has the best player does not guarantee her school the championship. Every coach knows going into the state tournament that it's a total toss-up who will come away a champion.
5A
Lone Peak is the returning champion and it's hoping to repeat. A single point decided the title last year, and Lone Peak's head coach doesn’t expect it to be an easy fight this year.
“It’s going to be like it is every year,” coach John La Cognata said. “It’s going to be a dogfight. There are a lot of good teams out there and I expect a close tournament again this year.”
La Cognata will have a bit of trouble returning to the 5A throne after losing all four of his doubles players from last year. According to him, that's essential to winning a state title.
“The last couple of years for us it’s kind of hinged on the doubles play,” La Cognata said. “For any state tournament, boys or girls, it comes down to your doubles play to constitute how deep your team gets.”
The Knights have a deep team, which makes the job of replacing the lost doubles players easier. La Cognata is going to depend on his senior co-captains, Leah Heimuli and Morgan Hall, to use their experience to lead the team to a successful run in the tournament.
Lone Peak does have some tough competition. La Cognata is quick to recognize Viewmont, Bingham, Brighton and especially Davis to all have strong and solid teams.
Davis, the school that the Knights beat by a single point last year, lost its number one singles player, Breezy Turley, to graduation. Turley won the singles tournament in 2014.
La Cognata says that even though his team won last year that doesn't mean they are the favorite to win against this year.
4A
Olympus returns as champion. The Titans edged out Timpview by four points to claim the title in 2014. Kevin Watts is the head coach of Olympus and he preaches that it’s the mental side of the game that wins championships.
“We tell these kids, ‘You play against two people in a match, the guy on the other side of the net and yourself. You need to win both in order to make it in the state tournament,’” Watts said.
Watts' weapon to keep his team mentally tough is his number one singles player, senior McKenna Lloyd. His team looks up to Lloyd in order to show focus in matches.
“She is our strength,” Watts said. “She is clearly the glue in the team.”
The Titans will be looking out for a few different schools to challenge them for the title. Watts knows that Murray has some strong players that can cause problems and Skyline has the principle strengths to win.
“It’s very interesting to see the skill level of these young ladies,” Watts said. “The level of tennis has gone up. There are some very good girls that play in the different schools and we look forward to playing them.”
3A
Pine View took the 3A title in 2014, but according to Park City head coach Tamarin Espinoza it might be a different school taking home the trophy this season.
“My guess is it will be Desert Hills or Grantsville,” Espinoza said.
The Thunder finished fifth in 2014 while the Cowboys finished fourth. Espinoza’s team finished second and she is confident in certain aspects of her team this year, mainly her singles players.
Park City’s singles players will look a little different in the upcoming state tournament, or similar if you are looking at the players’ faces. That is because the Miners' number one and number two singles player are identical twins, freshmen Livi and Gabby Rockwood.
Espinoza knows that these two are a strength for her going into the tournament because of the Rockwoods' background in tournament play. She is confident Livi, who is Park City’s number one, will be in the final against Desert Hills number one, senior Madz Eames.
Eames and Livi Rockwood have played each other before. Rockwood was able to beat Eames, but Espinoza knows that's not a guarantee the next time around.
2A/1A
The combined 2A and 1A divisions might not have the same level of competition as the bigger schools, which give a bigger opportunity for anyone to end up on top. Which was the case in 2014 when Saint Joseph won the title by a single point.
“You are always hoping to compete and be a part of it at the end of the year," Saint Joseph co-head coach Shane Reinhard said.
A single point in last year’s tournament separated the Jayhawks, Winged Lions and Templars. Reinhard mentioned that the experience that Rowland Hall and Manti received from last year is going to help them in 2015.
“[Rowland Hall] is always a good challenge for us and they have a very senior team,” Reinhard said.
Unlike the Winged Lions, Saint Joseph lost some players, including all three singles players and the first doubles team.
“You try your best to put in junior varsity players,” Reinhard said. “But nothing replaces the varsity competition and playing in it.”
Reinhard and his co-head coach Sadie Reinhard give credit to the southern schools like Manti and San Juan who are always serious competitors for the title each season.