High school girls tennis: Talented Woods Cross earns another 5A title

It was a glorious afternoon for the Woods Cross girls tennis team Saturday.

Despite threats of an impending storm that could disrupt the 5A state tournament at Liberty Park, the Wildcats rode the talents of players such as Lyla Bergeson to claim their second straight 5A crown and third in the last five years.

The Wildcats advanced athletes to the championship match in all five divisions and earned 70 points to outdistance second-place Hillcrest (37), followed by Skyline (27), Timpview (24) and Pleasant Grove (19).

“I was so impressed at the way the girls played,” Jim Romera said. “At the start of the season, I’d say this wasn’t a state championship team, but they kept at it and played their best right at the end.”

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That’s saying a lot, too, because the Wildcats won big tournaments in Utah County and St. George early in the season and they never suffered a letdown.

Hillcrest coach Creighton Chun said he knew right away that his team was likely playing for second place.

Before the season began, he figured Olympus would also be a title contender, but Woods Cross was able to keep its entire squad and Bergeson (first singles) and Ruby Robbins (second singles) earned titles in singles play. The teams of Sydney Kemp and Lila Johnson (first doubles), as well as Lillie Bennion and Liza Eyring (second doubles), handled their opponents in convincing fashion as well.

Bennion won the state crown last year with Robbins.

“You never know what you’re going to get in the finals,” said Romera. “These girls all stood their ground and played their best. It was a pleasure to watch them all day.”

Only a freshman, Bergeson comes from a tennis family, and playing with and against mother and three siblings helped her reach her state-championship goal so quickly. Her brother Drew Bergeson is a standout on Woods Cross’ boys tennis team.

Her older sister Sage Bergeson also won a state title as a freshman at Woods Cross, and is currently a freshman at BYU.

She said the individual and team trophies she held afterward while celebrating the win was probably one of the best tennis highlights of her life so far.

“I’ve been playing for a long time, and the support I got from my teammates has been great,” she said. “We may be a bunch of individuals, but this is a team sport and what we accomplished today we did as a team.”

Hillcrest also celebrated an individual title as Nivedita Bakshi earned 15 points by herself at third singles and that boosted the Huskies to a memorable finish.

Bakshi’s win also prevented Woods Cross from sweeping all of the events.