South Florida dominance: Doral, Gulliver and Pine Crest win state tennis titles

Ferocious forehands, sizzling serves, blasted backhands – it was all working for Gulliver Prep, Doral Academy and Fort Lauderdale’s Pine Crest.

All three schools won state tennis titles at Altamonte Springs on Thursday. Both the semifinals and championship matches were held on the same day.

Doral’s girls have won four straight state titles in Class 4A, and it could’ve been five had it not been for the lost COVID year of 2020.

“I believe this is the greatest girls’ tennis team ever,” Doral coach Justin Puppo said. “We have two juniors, Valeria Ray and Brenda Yoris, who have been a part of all four state championship teams.”

There was one bit of bad news for Dade/Broward teams on Thursday as Miami Palmetto lost to Lake Nona 4-2 in the state final. Palmetto beat Cypress Bay 4-1 in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Gulliver Prep’s girls defeated Pine Crest, 4-1, in the Class 2A semifinals. Gulliver then beat Bishop Verot, 4-0. That gave the Gulliver girls nine state titles, including two in the past three completed years.

“The key (on Thursday) was our win over Pine Crest,” Gulliver coach Kelly Mulligan said. “We had lost to them, 4-3, in the regular season.

“We knew we had to play our best.”

Gulliver’s singles players, in order from No. 1 to No. 5, were: freshman Sophia Varabyeva; sophomore Jayden Jagolinzer; sophomore Valentina Rossi; junior Mia Suarez; and junior Lia Fletcher.

Gulliver’s No. 1 doubles team of Varabyeva and Suarez lost to Pine Crest in the regular season. But on Thursday, they won, giving Gulliver a 2-0 lead.

From there, three of the singles matches went to tiebreakers, and Gulliver got enough there to advance. In the finals, it was relatively easy for Gulliver.

“It’s different when the kids don’t have to worry about school and then play tennis,” Mulligan said. “Here, it was just wake up and play tennis.”

Fortunately for Pine Crest and coach Corey Marsh, the school’s boys came through to win state, led by sophomore Kenneth Chan. He was followed in the lineup by senior Zaid Abuhamda; junior Krisztian Meszaros; junior Jonathan Fromkin; sophomore Jason Berinstein; and freshman Christian Yeagley.

Pine Crest’s doubles teams featured Abuhamda and Meszaros at No. 1; and Fromkin and Berinstein.

Marsh’s team beat Miami’s MAST Academy, 4-2, in the semifinals. Pine Crest then beat Satellite, 4-0, in the finals.

The key for Pine Crest in the final was Abuhamda and Meszaros winning an incredible doubles match, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 13-11.

“We saved one match point,” Marsh said. “We pulled off a major upset and inspired the rest of our team.

“I give our boys full credit for putting ‘we’ before ‘I’, which is hard to do in an individual sport. They proved they are elite tennis players and even better teammates.”

As for Doral, Puppo’s team beat Douglas, 4-0, in the semifinals and Vero Beach, 5-1, in the final.

Doral’s lineup featured Ray at No. 1, and she was followed by senior Estefania Gonzalez; freshman Alba Martinez; senior Valeria Centeno; and Yoris.

Ray, who will compete on Friday for the individual championship, and junior Patricia Palencia played No. 1 doubles. Gonzalez and Yoris played No. 2 doubles.

“Winning four straight state titles is an amazing accomplishment,” Puppo said. “When we first started this program, we lost in districts. Then we lost in regionals. Then we lost at state and had to come back. Just getting here is hard.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Palmer Trinity’s Francesca Salvato, a College of Charleston signee, lost in the Class 1A state final to Community School’s Lily Dounchis, 2-6, 6-0, 10-3.

“It was a great learning experience (for Salvato),” Palmer coach Kevin Chow said. “She lost confidence in her game, stopped trusting her backhand.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 8:32 PM.