Aquinas girls repeat as state tennis champions; True North upsets six-time girls’ champ

Miami’s True North Classical Academy slayed a giant, and Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas won a state championship.

Those were among the highlights on Tuesday as the state tennis tournament continued into its rain-plagued second day of competition in the Orlando area.

Aquinas’ girls won the Class 3A state title, defeating Auburndale, 5-0. Earlier on Tuesday, Aquinas defeated St. Petersburg, 4-1, in a semifinal.

It was the second straight title for the Aquinas girls’ team.

“All my girls played so well,” Aquinas coach Carol Deopsomer. “They really worked hard.”

Because Monday’s rain had overloaded the schedule, multiple matches were played with short sets (up to four games) and no ad, which meant that if the score got to deuce, the next point would win.

The Aquinas girls got two wins at doubles to start the finals. At No. 1 singles, Aquinas got a 5-3, 3-5 (10-3) win by Chloe Fouhety over Auburndale’s McKenna Battilla.

Aquinas also got wins at No. 4 singles (Lisi Sinkoe over Madison Newbern, 4-1, 4-2) and at No. 5 singles (Samantha Meyer over Alexandra Spencer, 4-1, 4-0). The other two matches were incomplete by the time Aquinas won the team title.

In the boys’ 3A competition, Aquinas beat Naples Barron Collier, 4-3, in a semifinal. However, the Aquinas boys lost the state final to Wiregrass Ranch, 4-2.

Meanwhile, the 1A rain-delayed quarterfinal was a shocker. St. Andrew’s girls’ team had won six straight Class 1A state titles, but that streak is now over. The True North Titans beat St. Andrew’s 5-0 in a state quarterfinal. True North advanced to play Naples’ Community School late Tuesday in the semifinals.

True North coach Andre Chow indicated he takes at least some responsibility for last year, when his squad lost 4-3 to St. Andrew’s in a state semifinal.

“I didn’t do my research (on St. Andrew’s),” Chow said.

Chow, however, said he spent much of the past year preparing scouting reports on St. Andrew’s, which – fortunately for him – returned most its players from 2022.

“I also got feedback from my girls, who have played St. Andrew’s kids in various tournaments,” Chow said.

On Monday, play was suspended with True North ahead 1-0 thanks to a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles by Sophia Pacheco and Maria Antanova.

True North’s No. 1 doubles team of Alba Martinez and Daniella Chica trailed 4-6, 5-5 when play was postponed.

Given that reprieve, True North made the proper adjustments at No. 2 doubles and won 4-6, 7-5 (10-6) to take a 2-0 lead going into singles play.

Using the abbreviated format, Chica won No. 2 singles 4-0, 4-2, and Antanova clinched the match, 4-1, 4-1, at No. 4 singles.

In addition, Martinez rallied to win at No. 1 singles, 1-4, 4-1 (11-9).

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

▪ Riviera Prep’s Sasha Kilgour lost a Class 1A state semifinal to Abigail Gordon, 4-1, 4-1.

“No excuses – it was the same for both girls,” Riviera Prep coach Jane Forman said of the short sets. “I wish we could’ve played at the USTA site 20 minutes away. They have six indoor courts.”

▪ In a girls’ 3A semifinal, Varela’s Yarlin Mendoza defeated Fort Myers Riverdale’s Indy Patel, 7-5, 2-6 (11-9), in a semifinal. In the final, Mendoza lost, 6-2, 6-2, to Osceola’s Lyla Messler.

▪ In the boys’ 1A singles semifinal, True North’s Brennen Chow beat Robert Zhang, 4-1, 4-2. Chow and True North’s Gabriel Valdes beat Zhang and Prithvi Sudhakar, 8-6 in doubles.