Doral’s Valeria Ray, TERRA’s Carlos Ramirez are Miami-Dade Tennis Players of the Year

It was a familiar scene for Doral Academy’s Valeria Ray — a gold medal being draped around her neck after winning a state title. The junior has been in this spot multiple times since the Firebirds began their rise as one of the top girls’ tennis teams in the state when she was a middle schooler.

It was a new experience for TERRA’s Carlos Ramirez — a gold medal being draped around his neck after winning a state title. The senior capped his high school career with an individual singles title, the first in his school’s history.

During a high school season that saw Miami-Dade win two team state titles, two individual singles titles and three individual doubles titles, Ray and Ramirez stand out. It’s why they are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Tennis Players of the Year.

It’s fitting that these two get the honor.

Both are calm and collected on the court, trying to match the demeanor of their favorite player: Rafael Nadal.

And both have grown up with the sport, Ramirez following in the footsteps of his dad who played at the junior level and Ray having played since she was 4 years old.

“Tennis has been my whole life, basically,” Ramirez said. “I don’t know where I would be without it.”

“It means everything,” Ray added. “It’s the reason I wake up every day. It’s my dream, my future.”

But the success at state has been starkly different for the two.

Winning at the state level has become commonplace for Ray. The junior and Vanderbilt commit already has seven state titles to her name — four team championships, two individual singles titles and an individual doubles crown.

“It’s not just to represent myself or my school,” Ray said. “It’s something I’m really proud to have. It means a lot to me.”

Ray swept each of her first two matches at state, posting identical 6-0, 6-0 scores against St. Johns Creekside’s Caroline Warner in the quarterfinals and Parkland Stoneman Douglas’ Tania Dumke in the semifinals before having to work a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) win over Vero Beach’s Grace Levelston in Doral’s Class 3A team championship match to help the Firebirds win 5-1 and qualify for the overall singles final. Ray beat Miami Palmetto’s Ameia Sorey 6-3, 6-1 to claim the individual title.

Ramirez, meanwhile, felt the euphoria of winning a state title for the first time this season, his final in the high school ranks.

Even though TERRA got knocked out of the Class 3A team competition with a 4-3 loss to Niceville in the state quarterfinals, Ramirez kept his individual season alive by beating Niceville’s Blake Forester 6-4, 6-3. That win allowed him to continue in the team side individual bracket that consists of the No. 1 players from each of the eight teams that advanced to state.

An injury to Ponte Vedra’s Andrew Kelly in the semifinals and a 6-4, 6-3 win over Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch’s Ninad Raut clinched Ramirez’s berth into the overall individual singles title match, where he Ocala Vanguard’s Drae Centonze 6-1, 6-0 to claim the singles trophy.

“Our coach [Daniel Gimenez] came here two years ago and he was always bothering us about going to state, but we never had a chance because there were hard teams in our district,” Ramirez said. “We’re not known for athletics so [winning a state title] is quite an accomplishment.”