True North girls’ tennis wins first state championship; Palmetto, Gulliver advance

Their aim was true.

With apologies to Elvis Costello, Miami’s True North Titans have been accurate with their shots all week at the rain-plagued state high school tennis championships in the Orlando area, resulting in a Class 1A girls’ team title late Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, True North’s No. 1 boys’ doubles team of Brennen Chow and Gabriel Valdes also won a state title by beating the St. Stevens’ duo of Max Pettingel and Ricardo Perazzolo, 6-3, 6-3.

True North’s girls started their state journey on Monday, leading a quarterfinal match against Boca Raton’s St. Andrew’s 1-0 before play was postponed. On Tuesday, the Titans closed out St. Andrew’s 5-0 and won two more matches to take the top trophy.

For True North, a Miami school which opened in the fall of 2020, it is the first state team title in any sport.

“We knew St. Andrew’s was the team to beat,” True North coach Andre Chow said of his team’s quarterfinal win over the six-time reigning state champs. “After that, we knew it was going to be a walk in the park.

“Our girls were jumping up and down when we beat St. Andrew’s. That was our biggest hurdle. When we finally won state, we were more mellow.”

Chow said his Titans arrived on the court at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. They soon started their warmups and eliminated St. Andrew’s at about 10:45 a.m.

Next, True North beat Community School of Naples, 4-2, in a match that started at 11:45 a.m. and didn’t end until 4:45 p.m. because of rain delays.

In the night-time final, True North routed Pensacola Catholic, 5-0. The Titans didn’t leave the court until about 8 p.m. – 14 hours after they arrived.

True North, which finished its season 11-1 with only a loss to Miami Palmetto, has a roster of six players: sophomore Alba Martinez at No. 1 singles; sophomore Daniela Chica (No. 2); sophomore Sophia Pacheco (No. 3); senior Maria Antanova (No. 4); seventh-grader Luciana Chica, who is Daniela’ sister, at No. 5; and seventh-grader Catalina Chow, who is the coach’s daughter, at No. 7.Daniela Chica, who said she “100 percent” wants to return to True North next year to win state again, finished this season 12-0.

“She’s my MVP,” Andre Chow said.

Chica, who is the daughter of Colombian parents, lost just one set all season.

But she remained humble throughout.

“I didn’t realize I went undefeated until right now,” Chica said. “I was just so focused on getting wins for our team. I know that if I win, it’s one less victory the team needs.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Fort Lauderdale’s Pine Crest’s No. 1 boys’ doubles team of Kenneth Chan and Krisztian Meszaros advanced to the state final. They won their quarterfinal 6-0, 6-0 over the Eustis duo of Gian Matteo Liverotti and Luke Van Dyke. In the semifinals, Pine Crest won 6-1, 6-1 over the Calvary Christian duo of Gabe Rodriguez and Matthew Hewitt.

▪ Pine Crest’s girls’ team of Michaela Landry and Natasha Jerkunica won their quarterfinal match. They won 6-0, 6-0 over the Calvary Christian duo of Isabella Hidalgo and Keira Donaldson.

▪ Both of Miami Palmetto’s squads advanced to the Class 4A state semifinal round on Wednesday. The Panthers’ boys beat Weston Cypress Bay 4-1 and the girls swept Stoneman Douglas 4-0.

▪ Gulliver’s boys swept Delray American Heritage 5-0 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals on Wednesday.