Posted on Thu, Mar. 27, 2008

It took years for Krop's girls' tennis team to shed its underdog status in Class 4A.

Nearly a year after winning its first state title, the Lightning now often looks unstoppable whenever the team steps on the tennis court.

On Wednesday afternoon at Tropical Park, Krop's girls secured their third consecutive Greater Miami Athletic Conference championship by beating Varela 5-0.

The Lightning's boys also succeeded in securing a team sweep by beating Coral Gables 5-0 to win their third GMAC title in a row and fifth in the past six seasons.

Krop's girls improved to 12-0 and won convincingly against a Vipers' team that was undefeated entering the match and is leading District 15-4A.

''The girls had a bunch of matches that they took control from the beginning and didn't let up,'' Krop coach Damon Halback said.

Krop lost only three service games overall, and Akeemi Maehama (No. 3 singles), Sonya Latycheva (No. 4) and Brittany Henry (No. 5) each won their matches 6-0, 6-0.

After losing to Coral Reef's Nakita Austin in Tuesday's semifinals, Krop's No. 1 singles player, Taylor Dubins, bounced back with a 6-0, 6-1 win against Lida Esfandiary. Her sister Brittany won her No. 2 match 6-0, 6-2.

''Taylor is the kind of athlete that knows how to get over a defeat quickly,'' Halback said. ``Having Brittany as a tone-setter in the No. 2 spot takes a lot of pressure off her and gives us a lot of depth.''

A day after an impressive win against Palmetto, Krop's boys took on a Gables' team that entered the match with a record of 9-0. The Lightning were missing two of their starters, Antonio Zarur and Alec Krantz, with injuries.

But Krop (12-1) secured hard-fought victories led by its top two players, Billy Federhofer and Gino Ramirez. For the second consecutive day, Leonardo Torralles split the first two sets of his match. Torralles won a third-set tiebreaker 10-7 to beat Coral Gables' Santiago Padilla, 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.

Krop's boys and girls will play Gulliver on Thursday in their final dual match before the district playoffs. The Raiders are the defending Class 2A state champions in both the boys' and girls' divisions.

''My biggest concern was to get the boys grounded again after such a big win against Palmetto,'' Krop boys' coach Mike Kypriss said. ``We were facing a very consistent team, but our guys matched them well. We'll have a tough turnaround facing Gulliver, but that's the kind of challenge we wanted before districts.''

RESULTS

• Boys -- Krop 5, Coral Gables 0 -- No. 1 singles: Billy Federhofer (K) d. Marco Ziff (CG) 6-1, 6-3; No. 2: Gino Ramirez (K) d. Nikita Zanko (CG) 6-4, 6-3; No. 3: Danny Tuckerman (K) d. Ralph Clesca (CG) 6-1, 6-3; No. 4: Leonardo Torralles (K) d. Santiago Padilla (CG) 6-3, 2-6, 10-7; No. 5: Brandon Pringle (K) d. Mark Belkin (CG) 6-0, 6-3.

• Girls -- Krop 5, Varela 0 -- No. 1: Taylor Dubins (K) d. Lida Esfandiary (V) 6-0, 6-1; No. 2: Brittany Dubins (K) d. Lais Marrero (V) 6-0, 6-2; No. 3: Akeemi Maehama (K) d. Estefania Konarek (V) 6-0, 6-0; No. 4: Sonya Latycheva (K) d. Abi Lelis (V) 6-0, 6-0; No. 5: Brittany Henry (K) d. Daniela Mangas (V) 6-0, 6-0.