Desert Mountain, Catalina Foothills, Phoenix Country Day sweep state high school tennis championships

The AIA tennis season wrapped up at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale on Saturday with the boys' and girls' team championships in Division I, II and III, along with individual and doubles titles. Scottsdale Desert Mountain, Tucson Catalina Foothills and Phoenix Country Day all showed why they have been among the top programs in Arizona in recent years. Here's a rundown:

Division I: Desert Mountain wins boys, girls championships

The Wolves took home both the boys' and girls' Division I team tennis championships Saturday, with both teams clinching their titles after their singles flights were completed.

The No. 1 girls team swept their singles mathes against No. 3 Desert Vista 5-0. The team result was sealed in the battle of the No. 2s, when Desert Mountain sophomore Tessa Watchel won the final point against Desert Vista sophomore Natalie Visic, the Division I singles runner-up, to give Watchel her the second set victory 6-4 and the flight victory 2-0. That sealed Desert Mountain's third consecutive Division I championship. and third straight undefeated season.

“These girls have worked so hard,” said Wolves head coach Kim Dever. “They have just worked out hard in our tournaments and just brought it today. It was exciting to see every one of our courts fighting hard.”

The only team that managed to take a set off of Desert Mountain in the playoffs was No. 4 Hamilton in the semifinals, but the Wolves took care of them 5-2.

The Wolves' boys team was seeded No. 3, but won the boys team championship over No. 1 Brophy Prep, another Arizona high school tennis power. The Broncos entered the championship match having won seven of the last 10 Division I championships, their last title loss coming against Desert Mountain in 2021.

On Saturday, the championship came down to the battle of the No. 6 competitors, Desert Mountain senior Yuki Matsui versus Brophy junior Austin Kos, coming down to a tiebreaker. Matsui avenged his loss earlier in the season to Kos, 10-5, clinching Desert Mountain's second boys team tennis title in the past three seasons.

"I couldn't be prouder of these kids," said Desert Mountain boys head coach Jay Curtis. "I have three freshmen in this group doing this so it's even more impressive."

Division II: Catalina Foothills reigns supreme

Catalina Foothills has been a dominant D-II program and showed again why Saturday, winning both the boys and girls championships again. The boys went into their match against No. 5 Flagstaff having won eight consecutive Division II championships. The girls went into their match against No. 2 AZ College Prep having won four straight.

The No. 1 girls conceded 10 sets combined in their first five singles matches Saturday, but sealed the title in the No. 4 matchup when senior Maria Aranguren swept AZ College Prep junior Yewon Kim 6-0 in their second set.

"I'm pretty proud of these girls," said Catalina Foothills head coach Daniel Root. "They had to live up to a stellar team that preceded them, and they just did a magnificent job."

The boys' team would soon follow suit, sweeping No. 5 Flagstaff in their singles flights 5-0 against giving No. 2 Catalina Foothills their ninth straight boys Division II title, which is now a state record.

"It's a legacy," said Catalina Foothills head coach Jeffry Bloomberg. "Go back 10 years ago when we started this run, and these kids fed into that, they know what the deal is and they know what the record is, and they just wanted to keep it going." The title is Bloomberg's seventh as the head coach.

In a faceoff of the No. 5 players, Catalina Foothills senior Suraj Shah defeated Flagstaff freshman August Fahy 7-5 in their second set, giving Shah the match victory and sealing the championship.

Division III: Phoenix Country Day takes boys, girls titles

Last season, Phoenix Country Day took home both boys and girls team tennis trophies. To try and do it again in consecutive seasons is easier said than done, but that's what the Eagles did on Saturday, winning both the boys and girls team championships.

On the girls side, No. 5 Phoenix Country Day swept No. 3 Tucson Pusch Ridge 5-0 in the singles flights, making the Eagles back-to-back champions.

"We continue to strive for excellence," said Phoenix Country Day head coach Jerry Keever. "We work really hard to peak at the state tournament, and we had good competition and we persevered."

In the No 4 singles duel, Phoenix Country Day senior Elle Bartolino sealed the deal for the Eagles when she won her second set versus Pusch Ridge senior Madi Van Holsbeke 6-4. That gave Bartolino the match victory and the Eagles' fifth win of the singles flights.

After the girls played, the boys took the court. In the closest match of the day, No. 2 Phoenix Country Day was in a fight with No. 1 Thatcher.

After four singles flights, the score was knotted at 2-2. In the match of No. 3s, Phoenix Country Day sophomore Carter Kroeger won against Thatcher junior Blake Kartchner 10-8 in their third tiebreaker set to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. In the final singles flight of the day and the closest match, Phoenix Country Day sophomore Linus Gino-Griffiths and Thatcher junior Gee Huish went back and forth in the third tiebreaker set, with no real separation from either player. It took 13 points, but Huish was able to even up the score once again in a marathon 13-11 victory in the third set, which meant for the first time all day, doubles would be played.

The two teams split two doubles matchups, with the No. 2 Phoenix Country Day team of Kroeger and senior Tyler Tam awith No. 3 Thatcher team of junior Brock Smith and senior Carter Bryce winning in their respective matchups. It came down to the No. 1 doubles flight. Thatcher had the early lead, having a 3-2 set lead. But the reigning Division III doubles champions of junior Jacques Sevrain and Gino-Griffiths went on a 5-1 run to give Phoenix Country Day their fifth point of the match and the much coveted three-peat.

"I felt fairly confident that we had two strong doubles teams," said Keever. "(The No. 1 team matchup) was close, it was very competitive, but they prevailed as doubles champions do."

Singles championships

Division I boys: Mountain Ridge junior Lincoln Baldonado def. Desert Mountain senior Trevor Rein (4-6, 6-4, 10-7)

Division I girls: Desert Vista senior Sydney Schnell def. Desert Vista sophomore Natalie Visic (3-6, 6-0, 11-9)

Division II boys: Raymond S. Kellis senior Adam Sun def. Catalina Foothills senior Jared Perry (6-2, 6-2)

Division II girls: Canyon View sophomore Zaria McGinty def. Ironwood sophomore Sasha Tijore (7-5, 6-1)

Division III boys: Rancho Solano Prep freshman Jaden Litt def. Scottsdale Prep senior Connor Swenson (6-3, 6-3)

Division III girls: Scottsdale Prep junior Nandini Patel def. Rancho Solano Prep junior Siona Vallabhaneni (6-4, 6-4).

Doubles championships

Division I boys: Brophy junior Andre Johnson and senior Hadley Kukla def. Desert Mountain freshmen Jeronimo Ledesma and Daniel Yuke (6-3, 6-3)

Division I girls: Desert Mountain senior Julia Frazier and sophomore Tessa Watchel def. Xavier Prep juniors Danielle Dyer and Belani Soto (6-3, 7-6(3)) .

Division II boys: Catalina Foothills sophomore Jason Jia and junior Santiago Lietzau def. Paradise Valley junior Nimith Gurijala and senior Jason Latz (4-6, 6-3, 10-8)

Division II girls: Notre Dame Prep freshman Gracie Cranford and senior Kira Lehman def. Catalina Foothills junior Morgan Filer and senior Maria Aranguren (6-1, 6-4)

Division III boys: Phoenix Country Day sophomores Jacques Sevrain and Linus Gino-Griffiths def. Veritas Prep seniors Ian Townsend and Jack Victor (6-3, 3-6, 10-8)

Division III girls: Chandler Prep senior Gaby Chu and junior Sonali Bhalla def. Gilbert Christian seniors Isabella Branton and Margaret Rowan (6-3, 7-5).

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Desert Mountain, Catalina Foothills, Phoenix Country Day sweep Arizona high school tennis championships