Tennis teams head to state tourney

Boulder City High School’s boys and girls tennis programs will be well-represented at the 3A state tournament this week, after making their way through the individual regional tournament Friday, Oct. 22.

The doubles duos of seniors Kannon and Kenny Rose and juniors Bret Pendleton and Tyler Lemmel, will make the trip to state competition with senior singles competitor Nathan Pickett.

Senior Reggi Gibbs will represent the girls, along with the juniors doubles duo of Callie Torgesen and Rose Randall.

“I think it’s great that we were able to get this many kids into state,” boys head coach Rachelle Huxford said. “I saw both the boys and girls play some of their best tennis this past weekend. It was even better that those wins came against The Meadows. We look forward to seeing what happens at state.”

Winning the doubles tournament for the boys, Kannon and Kenny Rose, who entered regionals as the No. 2 seed, defeated The Meadows No. 1 seed of Ryan Roxarzade and Alberto Pereira 6-4, 7-6.

Lemmel and Pendleton, who entered as the No. 5 seed, defeated The Meadows No. 3 seed of Brinley Belding and Davis Uyu 7-6, 6-4 in the third-place match.

“I have to give credit to both of those teams,” Huxford said. “They really turned it on this week and beat some really good players. We knew coming in Kannon and Kenny had a chance to win it all and they played some of their best tennis. Going to a tie-breaker was tough, but they pulled it out and played really smart tennis.”

Pickett, who entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed, defeated The Meadows’ Marcus Lee, who had entered the singles competition as the No. 2 seed, 6-2, 6-4 in the third-place match.

For the girls in singles play, Gibbs, who entered as the No. 2 seed, defeated The Meadows’ No. 4 seed Katherine Chau 7-6, 6-4 in the third-place match.

“Reggi killed it in regionals,” girls head coach Jami Pappas said. “She came from behind 1-3 to win 6-4. Her grit was like nothing I had seen from her. She went point by point and kept her composure and walked away with the win. It was such a treat to watch her fight like that.”

In doubles play, Torgesen and Randall, who entered as the No. 5 seed, will also make a state appearance after winning the third-place match due to a forfeit. Torgesen and Randall lost to eventual regional champions Miranda Paek and Beverly Wang in the semifinals 6-0, 6-2.

“Callie and Rose are both brand-new to tennis this year and have gotten substantially better,” Pappas said. “I’m proud of their competitive spirit and determination. They will be even better next year and I am looking forward to coaching them.”

The boys and girls teams came in second in the regional tournament.

Getting ready for both the team and individual state tournament at Liberty High School, the boys will play South Tahoe today, Oct. 28, while the girls will play Truckee.

Individual play will begin Friday and run through Saturday.

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.