Varsity Report: Lake Buena Vista’s Pete Tran takes state tennis titles; Winter Park, Hagerty among volleyball winners
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS — A year after reaching a state tennis final four, Lake Buena Vista senior Pete Tran combined power and poise to go all the way on Friday.
Tran, a 17-year-old Rollins recruit, served up topspin forehand drives and heavy two-handed backhands in beating Fleming Island ninth-grader Zach Hyatt 6-1, 6-2 in the Class 3A championship match at Sanlando Park.
“I’ve been working hard on my offensive game, going heavier on my shots,” Tran said after his victory. “Mentally, for me this week it was trying to be as neutral as possible. I didn’t get overly emotional with the ups and downs.”
The Sentinel Orlando area player of the year as a junior, Tran is positioned to claim that honor again after sailing through five FHSAA state singles wins in three days to finish 17-0 for the season.
He also paired with LBV No. 2 player Wil Nguyen to claim the 3A doubles title. The longtime Lake Cane Tennis Center training partners defeated Brayden Woods and Reef Davis of Fletcher High by the same score, 6-1, 6-2 in Tran’s third match of a sunbaked day.
“These guys grew up together and are really close,” Vipers coach Nelson San Pedro said after the doubles win. “Pete was hurting at the end. He was cramping. He kept his determination and was able to close it out. The kid is a fighter.”
They joined Lake Nona’s 4A girls doubles titlists Gabi Almanza and Elietta Said as this year’s Orlando area tennis champs and become the second and third Lake Buena Vista athletes to win FHSAA championships. Nathan Frette won diving state championships as a sophomore and junior and is heading into his senior year at the school, which opened in 2021.
Tran went 11-1 as a freshman and 13-1 as a junior playing in the No 1 slot for Cornerstone Charter, losing only in state tournament matches. He shifted to Lake Buena Vista this season as a virtual school student and lifted the Vipers to a banner season that ended with a state semifinal team loss on Thursday.
Timber Creek triple
Thursday was a big day for Timber Creek with the Wolves capturing district titles in baseball, softball and boys volleyball on the same night. All three teams were on the road.’
The 21-6 baseball team won 2-1 at Boone.
The softball squad (18-7) topped Winter Park 6-3 in a tourney final at Colonial.
Boys volleyball (22-5) won 3-1 vs. Hagerty at East River High School.
The Wolves also won flag football and boys tennis district titles this spring.
Boys volleyball
This week’s district champions are Winter Park (24-0), Lake Howell (26-1), Timber Creek, Freedom (22-5), Apopka (22-4), Horizon (21-4), St. Cloud (19-6) and Lake Mary (18-6).
Here are Tuesday’s region quarterfinal pairings:
Region 1
Ocala Forest at Lake Howell
Bartram Trail at Lake Brantley
Winter Springs at Lake Mary
Region 2
Cypress Creek at Winter Park
Bishop Moore at Apopka
Lake Nona at Timber Creek
Hagerty at Freedom
Region 3
Brooks DeBartolo at Horizon
George Jenkins at Windermere High
Dr. Phillips at St. Cloud
Beach volleyball
Hagerty (15-1) and Montverde (18-2) punched their tickets to next week’s state tournament with Region 3 homecourt wins Thursday.
The Huskies won 4-1 vs. backyard rival Oviedo (11-4) in their third meeting of the year.
Montverde won 3-0 against Winter Park (11-3).
The eight-team state tourney will be played May 10-11 at FSU.
Track and field
The First Academy sophomore Christopher “CJ” Bronaugh clocked winning times of 10.49 seconds for 100 meters and a career-best 21.30 for the 200 in Thursday’s 1A District 8 meet. He leads 1A in both sprints as of Thursday. He also anchored the Lions’ winning 4×100 relay (42.17).
Extra points
• Umatilla (19-8) claimed its first baseball district title since 1982 with a 4-2 win against Montverde Academy (14-9) on Thursday. The Bulldogs advance to a Wednesday 3A Region 2 quarterfinal.
• Florida Dairy Farmers presented the state Miss Basketball and girls basketball coach-of-the-year awards to senior guard Trinity Turner and veteran coach Anthony Jones on Friday afternoon. Jones was the girls flag football state coach of the year in 2011 and has won the hoops coaching honor two years in a row with state title teams.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
