Prep tennis: Gulf Coast, Barron Collier girls to meet in 3A regional final
The Gulf Coast High School girls tennis team defeated Venice, 4-1, in the 3A regional semifinal on Tuesday.
For the Sharks, the win was another step toward a repeat of last season's state championship title — Gulf Coast's first girls team state championship and second overall title.
"We've been training really hard together," junior Emma Heiderscheit said, "We're excited to move forward in the tournament."
The Sharks will face Barron Collier in the regional final at home Thursday.
More:High school tennis: Naples boys, Gulf Coast girls win 3A district titles
In the No. 1 singles spot, Heiderscheit defeated Jia Johnson, 6-1, 6-1. No. 2 Shale Bouchard beat Emily Kacprzak, 6-2, 6-1, and No. 3 Zoe Rosu beat Laura Kulcsar, 6-3, 6-3. No. 4 Nicolette Kulcsar picked up the only match win for Venice with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gulf Coast's QiQi Anderson.
Gulf Coast's Emma Schilling finished off the day by edging out Alexa Moghina, 7-5, 7-6 (3), in a dramatic No. 5 match.
"I'm so proud of my girls. They're incredible," Gulf Coast coach Mark Voorhees said. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't. All five were great today, but Emma Schilling, I think as far as mental toughness, did a lot for us. It changes the dynamics of other matches when you have players out there for a long time."
Although the Sharks won four out of five matches, Voorhees says the Sharks had to grind it out to advance.
"We put in a lot of work to get to this round where you're in the final 32, to now have a chance to be in the Sweet 16, I can't say enough about these girls," he said. "They deserve it."
Barron Collier rallies to beat Fort Myers girls: Fort Myers won three of the four matches that went to tiebreakers, but it was the fourth that decided the match.
The Barron Collier doubles tandem of Lauren Schave and Solana Gonzales outlasted Fort Myers' Reina Plancher and Gabriella Mazzorana 6-2, 2-6, 10-7 as the Cougars won the Region 3A semifinal, 4-3. Fort Myers' three wins came as the Green Wave top three singles players, Shani Idlette, Ava Lyon and Plancher, all took third-set tiebreakers.
"I didn’t think it could get any closer than our match against them two weeks ago, but this topped it," Barron coach Nancy Geiman said. "We lost all three super tiebreakers last match, lost the first three today, but won the most important and critical one at second doubles to win the match. Just a great high school tennis match.
"Very proud of everyone but major credit to Tori for playing through the remaining symptoms of the flu to keep our lineup in place. Super congrats also to freshman Solana Gonzales for contributing in two wins today. A very mature performance."
"The team fought all the way down to the last points," Fort Myers coach Ron Riis said. "You can't ask more than that."
Singles: 1. Shani Idlette (FM) d. Amanda Ruci 6-2, 3-6, 13-11; 2. Ava Lyon (FM) d. Tori Franklin 7-6, 3-6, 10-7; 3. Reina Plancher (FM) d. Lauren Schave 5-7, 7-5, 10-6; 4. Solana Gonzales (BC) d. Gabriella Mazzorana 6-0, 6-4; 5. Lauren Waylouis (BC) d. Alexandra Dorofeev 6-2, 6-4. Doubles: 1. Franklin/Ruci (BC) d. Idlette/Lyon 4-1 (retired); 2. Schave/Gonzales (BC) d. Plancher/Mazzorana 6-2, 2-6, 10-7.
-- USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA
BOYS
Venice sweeps Gulf Coast: The Indians rattled off four straight singles wins to end the 3A regional semifinal with a 4-0 victory.
Venice's Ben Zipay was the first off the court Tuesday after posting a 6-0, 6-1 win over Thomas Harrington, who was bumped up to the top spot. Gulf Coast regular No. 1 Deividas Vilys, who finished second in the state last year and was the Southwest Florida Player of the Year, suffered an injury. The senior is headed to Middlebury College in Vermont.
“Even at full strength we were going to have to play very well today,” Sharks coach Tom Zucchi said.
At No. 3, Venice's Ryan Rajakar beat Robert Brus, 6-0, 6-1. Venice No. 4 Ryan Sherwood defeated Andrew Seneski 6-0, 6-2. Mason Lei, who plays No. 5 for the Indians, clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jonah Berg. Venice closed the sweep of singles with No. 2 Jaden Wiesinger posting a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Jeremy Montgomery.
The Indians must wait a day for their opponent as the Fort Myers High at Naples High match was postponed due to rain until Wednesday at 3 p.m.
-- Special to the Naples Daily News