Wylie’s Dylan Belshaw watches the ball go over the net during last Friday’s home match against Wylie East. Photo by Elijah Kloepping / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Wylie continued its dominance in District 9-6A tennis last Friday, cruising to a 16-3 victory over Wylie East to claim its eighth consecutive district championship.
The Pirates got off to a strong start in boys doubles, sweeping all three matches. At the No. 1 line, Kushal Sheth and Brandon Wallace doubled up Wyatt Kelley and Jackson Stone, 4-2, 4-2. Eliot Halpin and Kyle Fain battled through a tough challenge from Wylie East at the No. 2 line to earn a 5-3, 5-4 (7-2) win, while Wylie’s duo of Renner To and Dylan Belshaw cruised to a 4-0, 4-2 triumph at the No. 3 line.
Wylie East notched its first win of the day at girls No. 1 doubles where Monicah Kanyangi earned an exhilarating 6-1, 2-4 (8) victory at the No. 1 line. However, Wylie won the remaining two doubles matches. Claire Smith and Snehitha Kommera rolled to a 4-0, 4-1 win at the No. 2 line, while Christine Tykoski and Anaar Ramolia earned a 4-2, 4-1 win at the No. 3 line.
The Lady Pirates carried over that momentum to singles play where they went 6-0 in head-to-head action against the Lady Raiders.
Anvitha Kommera picked up a 4-1, 4-1 victory at No. 1 girls singles. Kanyangi gave Smith quite the challenge at the No. 2 line, but in the end, Smith earned a hard-fought 5-4 (7-4), 4-2 victory. Vashaili Kumar posted a 4-0, 4-0 shutout at the No. 3 line, Kommera earned a 4-2, 4-1 win at the No. 4 line, Ramolia picked up a 5-4 (7-3), 4-1 victory at the No. 5 line and HollyAnn Gibson started strong and went on to earn a 4-0, 5-3 win at the No. 6 line.
The most entertaining match of the day was in boys No. 1 singles where Kelley outlasted Sheth 5-3, 1-4 (15-13) in a thriller.
Wylie East had its strongest showing of the day in boys singles. In addition to Kelley winning at the top line, Tai Stamps picked up a convincing 4-1, 4-1 win at the No. 3 line.
Overall, Wylie won four of the six matches that were played in boys singles. Wallace (4-0, 4-1) posted an easy win at the No. 2 line, while Josh Baag (No. 4, 4-1, 2-4 (10-7)), To (No. 5, 3-5, 4-2 (10-3)) and Halpin (No. 6, 4-2, 4-5 (7-4), (10-3)) all squeezed out wins in matches that needed longer than two sets to complete.
Wylie will host Rockwall-Heath at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
“We have made it to the regional quarterfinals the past three years, so we are looking to repeat and finally get over that hump to the regional semifinals,” said Andy Cariens, Wylie head coach. “We definitely are in a good spot in the playoff bracket and match up well against those schools in order to make a deep run. Our kids are really excited about the opportunity to compete and make school history.”
Wylie East is scheduled to begin the playoffs 10 a.m. Monday at Wills Point where the Raiders will play Longview.
“It’s going to be a tough matchup,” said Jeff Davidson, Wylie East head coach. “They are solid with depth throughout.”
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