Olympus’ girls tennis team put itself in the driver’s seat during Day 1 of the 5A state tournament at Liberty Park on Thursday.
Olympus advanced to the semifinals in all five positions with an outstanding showing as it leads the tournament with 30 team points. Woods Cross and Park City are close behind with 27 points after advancing teams to the semifinals in three of four positions.
The scoring format of this year’s state tournament is different than in year’s past as the UHSAA tries to decrease the frequency of co-state championships.
Last year, Woods Cross and Highland shared the team title with 17 points each. In previous years, one team point was awarded for wins in the first two rounds and then two team points for wins in the next two roundups.
Under the new format, the number of team points increases each round (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Through the first three rounds, the maximum points acquired thus far is six, but there are still nine points on the table at each position heading into Saturday’s final day of competition at Liberty Park.
Olympus has the top seed in third singles, first doubles and second doubles, while Woods Cross has the top seed at first and second singles.
Olympus and Woods Cross will go head-to-head in the semifinals at both first singles and second doubles on Saturday.
Woods Cross’ Sage Bergeson is the defending first singles state champion and will be the favorite against Olympus’ No. 5 seed Lily Stohl at first singles.
Conversely, Olympus will be favored at second doubles, as the No. 1 seed team of Alexandra Rawlings and Wilhelmina Hoggan take on Woods Cross’ No. 4 seed team of Sydney Kemp and Kenna Cowley.
Park City is within striking distance of both Olympus and Woods Cross, but it would need to pull off numerous upsets along the way to claim the team title.