Tennis players off to state tourney

Boulder City High School tennis will send nine players to the 3A Individual state tournament starting today at Tahoe Donner Tennis Center.

“Having that many kids qualify for state is amazing,” head coach Rachelle Huxford said. “They all set goals for themselves and go out and do it. Every year it seems we’re supposed to be in a rebuilding year because our previous star players graduated, but the kids won’t allow that. They go out and exceed expectations. They’re eager to be the next team to have success.”

Sending five boys to state, the doubles tandems of seniors Carson Alder and Chandler Shamo and senior Alex Imboden and junior Shane Barrow will make the trip up north, along with juniors singles competitor Logan Borg.

Clashing in a regional championship matchup of friendly fire, Alder and Shamo defeated Imboden and Barrow 6-4, 6-3, to lock up the top two spots in the South for the Eagles.

“Our doubles program has been very strong this season,” Huxford said. “It was a great match between both of those teams. It looked like at some points Alec and Shane could pull the upset. We’ll see what happens next week. I’m super happy both teams are going to state.”

In singles play, Borg took home the fourth and final spot in the South, falling in the third-place match to Moapa Valley’s Garrett Hadley, who came into regional play as the No. 2 seed.

“Logan is a solid player whose done really well and had a good postseason,” Huxford said. “He came in as the No. 4 seed and did what we expected him to do. Singles in the 3A is such a competitive bracket. The top three seeds are all big hitters, but he steps up and is great at hitting it back.”

Highlighting the girls’ efforts in doubles play, the tandem of seniors Chayce Larson and Maddie Morris defeated teammates Mariah Torgesen and Ava Gibson in the finals 6-1, 6-2.

“I’m really excited for Chayce and Maddie, they’re on a roll,” Huxford said. “Their goal is to get a state championship and they expect to be in this position. They go into every match saying they’re going to win. They have great confidence and set themselves up for success.“

Finishing regional play strong, the duo of Torgesen and Gibson helped the Eagles lock up the top two spots in the south and should be a tough out at state.

“Ava and Mariah are right there,“ Huxford said. “They want the same thing and it’s great when you have teammates to push you. Our team is competing against the best competition everyday in practice. The only matches they lost this season were to 5A schools, so I’m not surprised by their success. They’re as tough as any team in the 3A, they deserve to be right there.”