SALT LAKE CITY — With a slim lead heading into Friday’s semifinals of the 5A state tennis tournament, first-year Olympus coach Jenny Watts knew with a quality field of 5A players, the Titans would have to have a solid performance in the morning semis.
The Titans rolled through the semis with winners in No. 1 singles (Emma Jewell), No. 2 singles (Ely Lloyd), No. 3 singles (Kate Longson) and No. 1 doubles (Anzle Stohl and Megan Jewell) all advancing to the finals.
“This team is just deep and there are a lot of girls that have put in a lot of time,” Watts said. “It obviously took a team effort to get to this point.”
While the Titans only 5A championship came from Lloyd, the 2016 4A state champion showed the move didn’t deter the Titans' dominance.
“We didn’t win as many matches in the finals as we had hoped,” Watts said. “I’m just so proud of them all, especially our freshmen, Stohl and Jewell, that made it to the finals," Watts said.
Watts said the Titans have a family feel to them in her first year, noting a pair of sisters and three cousins that play on the team.
Alta’s Emilee Astle wins No. 1 singles title for Alta
With the 5A and 6A state tournaments at the same locale, there was plenty of terrific tennis going on at Liberty Park on Friday. One of the most well-attended matches was that of Alta’s Astle vs. her good friend Emma Jewel. Fans packed the make-shift bleachers and watched as two tremendous competitors squared off. Astle used her height, 6-feet, to crank up a big serve and plenty of winners off the ground.
It was a close match early, but Astle closed by taking 11 consecutive games for the straight-set victory.
“I was playing well, trying to stay aggressive, trying to come in and finish points,” Astle said. “Emma is a really good player and she gets a lot of balls back.”
While the Alta girls finished 4th in the team standings, Astle had a ton of support from her classmates.
“My team is just so supportive, they all missed school to come watch,” Astle said.
Runner-up at No. 1 singles, Jewell relished the team championship and in a bigger classification against better competition.
“We knew we had tougher competitors, our goal is to always win state,” Jewell said.
With 5A and 6A matches going on simultaneously, two 5A crowds had electric moments with a No. 3 singles title for Timpview’s Gwen Bryson while Corner Canyon's No. 1 doubles team of Addie Sepulveda and Raili Jenkins claimed took the title.
In the ninth game of a three-setter against Olympus’s Kate Longson, Bryson broke her opponent's serve and then served out the set for a state championship much to the delight of the Timpview fans.
One of the loudest matches of the day had to be the Sepulveda-Jenkins No. 1 doubles final against Olympus freshmen Stohl and Jewell. With no other players left playing, the Corner Canyon crowd was extremely vocal as its team won the highly-contested match.
Final team scores: Olympus 20, Timpview 13, Alta 7, Springville 7, Wasatch 7, Woods Cross 7, Brighton 4, Skyridge 4, Skyline 3, East 2, Maple Mountain 2, Bountiful 1