Dynasty: Westwood routs Houston Memorial to win fourth state tennis title in six years
If Westwood wasn’t a dynasty already, it certainly is now.
The Warriors won their second straight Class 6A state team tennis title — and fourth in the past six years — with a 10-3 pounding of Houston Memorial in the final Thursday at Baylor. It completed a perfect year for Westwood, which finished 17-0 and has won 35 straight matches dating back to August 2022.
“Repeating isn’t a big deal to me, but since we’ve never done it, it’s kind of nice to have that now,” said longtime Westwood coach Travis Dalrymple, who is also an alumnus of the school. “It’s really about the kids, and I’m just happy for them to win state. It’s incredible.”
Like in their championship run a year ago, the Warriors were dominant. They dropped only four matches in their two state tournaments, and most of this year's varsity players were not on the team last fall.
On Thursday, Westwood exited doubles with a 4-3 lead and then routed the Mustangs in singles.
“Our culture is just incredible,” Dalrymple said. “The kids were motivated and pushed each other. It was awesome to watch all the wins come rolling off.”
The boys doubles teams of Leon Chen and Aditya Paravasthuramesh and Daniel Zhang and Devon Zhang both posted wins, and the girls pairs of Dana Kardonik and Janya Tellabati and Lily Wang and Alexandra Mepham did the same. Tellabati and Wang made quick work of their singles opponents, and Chen, Devon Zhang, Daniel Zhang and Arjun Rajan all posted dominant wins in boys singles to get the Warriors to the needed 10 wins.
Westwood also seamlessly handled a five-hour rain delay.
“That was tough,” Dalrymple said. “We had two rain delays (Wednesday), and we came out sluggish. (Thursday), we did not come out sluggish, and we jumped on the court and played with a lot of fire. It was awesome.”
Sibi Raja and Alek Mesarovic are the other boys starters for Westwood, and Anwitha Duduka, Simryn Jacob and Faith Ou are girls starters.
In the semifinal win over The Woodlands, Westwood swept the boys and girls doubles matches before Chen, Daniel Zhang, Wang and Jacob claimed singles wins.
“We graduated a big senior class last year, and people stepped up into new roles,” Dalrymple said. “They could not have done any better.”
LASA second in Class 5A
In Class 5A, LASA continues to signal that it might be a state power for a long time. Though the Raptors finished runner-up with a 10-1 loss in the state final to Frisco Centennial, they made their second straight trip to the state tournament even though they have existed as a program for only four years.
In their 10-4 semifinal win over Boerne Champion, the Raptors had two wins in girls singles, four wins in boys singles and a sweep of the boys doubles. Claire Zhou and Sanwi Sarode won in girls singles, with William Gu, Nash Baldridge, Harrison Chambers and Mahir Vallabhaneni claiming wins in boys singles.
Zhou and Sarode teamed up for a win in girls doubles, and the boys doubles teams of Emil Chafigouline and Gu, Baldridge and Vallabhaneni, and Chambers and Milo Kevorkian all took wins.
In Thursday’s final, Zhou and Sarode won in girls doubles for LASA’s lone victory.
Wimberley wins Class 4A
Wimberley took the title in Class 4A by beating Kaufman 10-7, paced by a strong showing in doubles and girls singles. Girls doubles teams of Ella Malone and Kate Carson, Gwen Pierce and Kennedy Carson and Lea Martin and Maggie Moore all won, and the boys doubles team of Branton Kirchner and Marcus Gonzales and the mixed doubles pair of Ty Marko and Maia Martin also posted wins.
In girls singles, Malone, Lea Martin, Kate Carson, Pierce and Moore were victorious.
The Texans reached the final by edging Canyon Randall 10-8 in the semifinals Wednesday.
Malone, Lea Martin, Kate Carson and Pierce all took wins in girls singles, with Gonzales, Finn Mignerey, Drew Vinson and Joe Sheffield producing boys singles victories. Kate Carson and Malone teamed up for a girls doubles win, with Vinson and Tyler Youens doing the same in boys doubles.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Westwood repeats as Class 6A state team tennis champion
