The high school tennis team’s regular season ended the same week the post season began with the Falcons competing against Page early on, then moving on to the individuals/doubles portion of the state tournament over the weekend.

All told, the Falcons sent nine athletes to the first leg of the state tournament.

Doubles partners Jenny Fisher and Jena Serrano, along with singles player Tim Schlum, advance to the quarter-finals being held this Friday at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale. Competition begins at 6:30 p.m.

This past Tuesday, April 29, the boys team entered the state tournament seeded at 15. Hosted out of Tucson, the local boys played the number two team, Pusche Ridge. The girls, seeded 10th, travel to Tucson today, April 30, to compete against the number seven team from Desert Christian.

Results from the conclusion of the individuals/doubles tournament and the opening rounds of team state play will be reported in next week’s edition of The Times.

Page

The boys tennis team traveled four hours to play Page Tuesday, April 22, while the Lady Falcons stayed home to host.

“The boys knew they had to win their last three matches to earn enough Power Points to compete at state,” explained Coach Jean Serrano.

“Despite the extremely windy weather conditions, the boys won handily 8-1.”

The girls team was set to go to state no matter the outcome of their final match but, according to Serrano, a win would have guaranteed a higher seeding and a little momentum boost going into the final rounds of competition.

Unfortunately for the Lady Falcons, the ball didn’t bounce their way, going on to lose 7-2.

The local ladies were actually down their number one player, Jenny Fisher, who suffered a sprained ankle a few days prior. The roster was shifted up one position, but the team couldn’t overpower their visitors from the north.

All Falcons lost in singles play with the only wins coming in doubles competition from the pairings of Haley Braun/Kate Domin and Lauren Nazarro/Meagan Coveney.

The boys managed to have a strong showing after their long trip up the road, with all six singles players earning wins, including Tim Schlum, Matt Siewert, Reid Sanchez, Ethan Green, Jacob Strayer and David Strayer, who just so happened to make this his first individuals win.

In doubles play, the pairings of Sanchez/Green and the Strayer brothers both found wins, helping earn the team its 8-1 victory.

State

With the team state competition still on the horizon, nine Falcons went on to compete in the individual/doubles portion of the post-season tournament last weekend, including Tim Schlum, Jenny Fisher, Jena Serrano, Reid Sanchez, Ethan Green, Matt Seiwert, Taylor James, Lauren Nazarro and Meagan Coveney.

“We had many first year players entered into state due to prom taking place on the second day of competition,” Serrano explained.

“We always have distractions at the end of the year with senioritis, school work, AP exams, college visits and finals but, this year, it has been extremely challenging.”

Still, the Falcons managed to hold their own with several athletes making it into the quarterfinals.

Taylor James exited in the first round of singles play with Matt Siewert falling in the second to the three-time state singles champion.

Doubles partners Lauren Nazarro and Meagan Coveney made it through the first two rounds of play before falling in the third on Saturday to the number one seeded team from Miami.

Reid Sanchez and Ethan Green also took home wins in the first two rounds of play, coming back Saturday and eventually losing a close showdown with a team from Florence.

The doubles pairing of Jenny Fisher and Jena Serrano managed to find wins in all three early rounds of the state tournament, besting teams from Tombstone, St. Gregory and Seton Catholic to advance to this week’s final series of matches.

In singles play, Tim Schlum also went the distance in the first weekend of state, receiving a bye in the first round and eventually beating opponents from Chandler Prep and St. Mary’s to continue on in the competition.