STATE BOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!
Westwood's tennis team completed the most treacherous regional path in the state Tuesday, defeating Westlake 10-3 in the Class 6A Region IV championship duel.
Westwood, ranked No. 1 in the Texas Tennis Coaches Association poll, will face off against either Houston Memorial or Katy Tompkins, who squared off for the Region III title Wednesday. Memorial won state titles last season and in 2017, while Westwood won the 2018 title. Last season, Memorial defeated Westwood in a state semifinal.
The UIL will not host a state tournament (semifinals and finals in one location) this season because of precautions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Westwood coach Travis Dalrymple, the Warriors will try and face either Memorial or Tompkins this weekend at Texas A&M in College Station, which normally hosts the state tournament.
"That's a great venue," Dalrymple said. "Those (Memorial and Tompkins) are both great teams."
If Westwood is to meet No. 2 Memorial, Dalrymple said the meetings on the top two girls singles lines could determine the winner
″(If) our top two girls face their top two girls, those four are among the very best singles players in the state so the competition will be intense," Dalrymple said.
The state championship duel will take place early next week at a place and time determined by the two participants. Region I champion Plano West will face Region II champion The Woodlands in the other Class 6A state semifinal.
Westwood returned to the state tournament by surviving a region that also included No. 4 Lake Travis, No. 5 Westlake and No. 15 Vandegrift. The Warriors beat Lake Travis 10-1 in a regional-quarterfinal contest before besting Westlake Tuesday at Vandegrift High School.
Westwood seized a 6-1 lead after doubles play, "which is a big lead in team tennis," said Dalrymple.
Westwood's boys doubles victories included: Nick Pesoli and Daniel Antov winning 6-3, 6-0 over James Cockrell and Jake Riezebeek; Marko Mesarovic and Aadhi Raja won 6-3, 6-3 over Devan Sabapathy and Thomas Komarek; and Sachchit Sivaram and Zeyad Elchouemi won 6-1, 6-1 over Clark Sweeney and Jette Payne.
In girls doubles play, Kinaa Graham and Simryn Jacob won 6-0, 6-1 over Shashwath Keta and Luis Gomez; Jessica Lu and Dana Kardonik won 6-3, 6-4 over Chloe Zeng and Josie Rousseau; and Rishika Vemulapalli and Alex Mepham won a 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 (tiebreaker) thriller over Savannah Baptiste and Gabby Flores.
In singles play, Westwood won four matches as Lu beat Gracie Dobson 6-1, 6-0; Kardonik beat Baptiste 6-3, 6-1; Aashish Dhanani beat Komarek 6-2, 6-2; and Sivaram beat Denver Holden 6-2, 6-2.
Pesoli, the No. 1 boys player for Westwood, may have had the most exciting match of the day even though his result didn't factor into the final score. Pesoli rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to win 7-5 and held a 4-0 lead in the second set when the duel ended.
"Nick just played amazing in his comeback," Dalrymple said.
Second-year Westlake coach Jeff Savage led the Chaps past Round Rock 10-2, Smithson Valley 10-0, San Antonio Reagan 10-2 and Laredo Alexander 12-0 to reach the regional finals.
In Class 4A action, Boerne edged Wimberley 10-9 to win the Region IV title and advance to the state semifinals.