Doral Academy girls’ tennis standout repeats as state champion; Monarch senior wins first
Doral Academy’s Valeria Ray, who suffered a significant injury to her right ankle in mid-January, is officially all the way back, winning her seventh state title on Friday in Altamonte Springs.
Ray, a Vanderbilt recruit, defeated Miami Palmetto’s Ameia Sorey, 6-3, 6-1, winning the Class 4A individual championship.
It was the second individual state title for Ray, who also won last year. She won a doubles championship in 2021, and she has four team titles as Doral’s ace.
Ray, just a junior, figures to add to her total next year, but she certainly appreciates what she’s already done.
“This accomplishment,” Ray said, “feels so good because of what I had to overcome.”
Indeed, Ray was injured in a practice drill.
“I was trying to hit a volley, and all my weight came down on my twisted ankle,” Ray said. “I tore ligaments, but the doctor said I was lucky I didn’t break my ankle.”
Ray stayed off the court for a month and didn’t return to match play until early March. She still managed to have another brilliant season, going 11-0.
Ray, ranked sixth nationally among 16-under girls, beat University of Central Florida recruit and Vero Beach senior Grace Levelston, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1), on Thursday.
Then, in Friday’s title match, there were five straight service breaks in the first set as Ray won 6-3. Ray wasn’t broken at all in the second set, winning 6-1.
“I feel like I played amazing,” Ray said. “I was running around to my forehand, hitting inside out. That’s my shot. That’s where I get my confidence.
“Being aggressive, I think that put my opponent out of her game.”
A CROWN FOR MONARCH
Corey Craig didn’t play high school tennis the past two years.
He was going to skip this year, too.
But then he found out that two of his friends -- Tai Le and Matthew Shortino – were going to play for Monarch, and he decided to join them.
“It was a last-minute thing,” Craig said.
On Friday, Craig capped his brief prep career by winning the Class 4A boys’ single title, defeating Miami Palmetto’s Sebastian Munoz, 6-0, 6-0.
Craig, an 18-year-old senior who has signed to play for Boston University, went 12-0 this season and did not drop a set.
He learned tennis at his neighborhood courts, Regency Lakes. He was five years old when his father, local coach Shawn Craig, taught him the game.
Rather than compete for Monarch the past two years, Craig played a lot of tournaments. He also went to superstar Rafael Nadal’s tennis academy in Spain last year.
“I learned a lot about motivation and psychology,” said Craig, who is interested in studying business at Boston.
Jim Gard, who has been teaching high school math for 41 years, is in his first year at Monarch, and he feels blessed to have inherited Craig on his roster.
“Corey is good at every facet of the game,” said Gard, who coached Stranahan tennis for 20 years. “He was fantastic the whole tournament. No one could touch him.”
PALMETTO HEARTACHE
It was a tough week for the Class 4A Palmetto Panthers.
In the team competition, Palmetto’s boys lost, 4-2, to Lake Nona. Munoz lost to Craig in the boys’ individual final. Sorey lost to Ray in the individual girls’ final. Sorey and Alexa Schull lost, 6-4, 6-1, in the No. 1 doubles final to Vero Beach’s Levelston and Manuela Van Cotthem.
Palmetto coach Kelly Gibson said the team final was perhaps the most intense match of her 16-year coaching career. After splitting the two doubles points, four of the five singles matches went to tiebreakers.
“It was a loss for the trophy, but my kids won valuable lessons such as honesty, integrity and heart,” Gibson said after the match that took nearly six hours to complete.
“There were two bad calls at the end, and we came up short. This one stung. Sometimes life isn’t fair. But my kids showed incredible fight and class.”
INJURY NEWS
St. Thomas Aquinas senior Isabel Pacheco tore her ACL during the state 3A girls’ doubles final on Wednesday.
She got the official medical report on Friday, but the good news is that she has already signed to play for the University of Cincinnati this fall, and her scholarship is secure.
“That helps a lot or it would’ve been way worse,” said Pacheco, who plans on studying psychology in college.
“I told (Cincinnati coach Eric Toth) as soon as it happened. I wanted him to hear it from me, and I’m really lucky. He’s awesome and positive. He cares. He just wants me to focus on my recovery.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 12:55 PM.