St. Thomas Aquinas tennis squads advance on first day of state championships

Two high school tennis squads from Miami-Dade/Broward – True North in Class 1A and St. Thomas Aquinas in 3A – began their quests for state tennis championships on a rainy Monday in the Orlando area.

While True North couldn’t put a big enough dent in the St. Andrew’s boys’ tennis dynasty, Aquinas advanced both of its teams to Tuesday’s state semifinals.

The Aquinas boys beat Lake Buena Vista, 4-1. The Aquinas girls had an even easier time, defeating Okeechobee, 5-0. Both Aquinas squads will play in the state semifinals on Tuesday. The girls will face St. Petersburg, but the boys’ opponent had not been determined as of late Monday evening due to a rain delay.

The Aquinas boys’ singles winners were Blake Edwards at No. 1; Lucca Freitas at No. 2; Alec Manasse at No. 4; and Philip Paun at No. 5. For the girls, Aquinas got singles wins from Chloe Fouhety (No. 1); Sasha Cartagena (No. 2); and Samantha Meyer (No. 5). Both Aquinas doubles teams won in the girls’ competition: Fouhety and Cartagena at No. 1; and Isabella Freitas and Lisi Sinkoe at No. 2.

Aquinas coach Carol Deopsomer said Edwards, who is just a junior, has a shot to also win an individual state title in singles this year.

“Blake is playing phenomenal tennis,” Deopsomer said. “He hasn’t missed many points. His forehand has been unbelievable. He’s been very aggressive.

“He’s been training really hard, and it’s showing. Everything is working for him.”

Deopsomer said her original No. 3 singles player did not show up for districts and was dismissed from the team, causing everyone below him to move up one spot.

As for the Aquinas girls -- who are looking to repeat as state champs – they played as expected, cruising to victory.

Asked if they will repeat as state champs, Deopsomer said: “I’m hoping.”

Meanwhile, championship dreams ended on Monday for True North’s boys, who lost 4-2 to St. Andrew’s, a powerhouse program from Boca Raton.

St. Andrew’s is now two victories away from its fourth straight state titles in boys’ tennis.

True North tested St. Andrew’s, leading 1-0 and 2-1 before faltering.

“We played well, but it came down to losses at No 3 singles and No. 2 doubles,” True North coach Ricky Guevara said. “Our No. 3 singles match lasted nearly two hours.”

That match came down to a tiebreaker as St. Andrew’s Julian Fente defeated True North’s Caleb Chow, 6-3, 5-7 (10-7).

At No. 2 doubles, Fente and Eric Snyder defeated Chow and Matthew Shapiro, 6-2, 7-6.

True North won at No. 1 doubles as Brennon Chow and Gabriel Valdes defeated Ryan Nash and Hugo Vajgel, 6-3, 7-5.

In addition, True North’s Brennon Chow won at No. 1 singles, beating Nash, 6-2, 1-0 (retired).

Also noteworthy: True North’s girls led St. Andrew’s 1-0 before a long rain delay made the result unavailable at press time. The St. Andrew’s girls have won six straight state titles.

Apart from the team competition, several Miami-Dade/Broward players competed in the individual part of the state finals:

▪ Varela’s Yarlin Mendoza defeated Tallahassee Chiles’ Lillian Zhang, 6-0, 6-4. Mendoza advanced to Tuesday’s Class 3A state final where she will face Fort Myers Riverdale’s Indi Patel.

▪ Riviera Prep’s Sasha Kilgour defeated Bradenton Christian’s Mia Hernandez, 2-6, 7-6 (10-5). Kilgour advanced to Tuesday’s Class 3A state final where she will play Boca Raton Grandview Prep’s Abigail Gordon.

▪ Ransom Everglades’ Alejandro Urdaneta won both of his matches including a tough three-set win over Downtown Doral’s Rafael Gonzalez to advance to the 1A boys’ singles individual final. Gonzalez beat Tallahassee Maclay’s Bradley Carnes to reach the semis before losing to Urdaneta.