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It was a little bit of deja vu Saturday for the Skyline girls' tennis team, which found itself in a different classification, but winning the same titles.
In a similar fashion to last season, the Eagles won second singles, third singles and the overall team title at Liberty Park, only this time for the Class 4A championship. Skyline dominated the competition just about all the way through, getting a finalist in all five brackets. Wins by Erin Blessing and Sydney Monson pushed them over the top.
"I'm so excited - it's a great feeling," said Blessing, who topped Bountiful's Kasey Bacon in second singles 6-4, 6-2. "She played so awesome, and I had never beaten her before. Winning that first set gave me a lot of confidence."
Skyline has now won three state titles in a row, and so has Blessing, winning a third singles title each of the last two years. The junior won her first-ever second singles title by dispatching the defending Class 4A champ in the category.
She wasn't the only one to unseat a standing first-place winner, however. Monson upset 2010 third singles champ Nikki Russell of Bountiful in a 6-1, 7-5 match that threatened to drag out a bit longer. It was Monson's first time competing as a singles player, and she acknowledged it was tough not having a partner to lean on when the match was getting tight.
"I was nervous, and it felt a lot harder not to have someone to pick you up," Monson said. "But winning makes you feel like you accomplished something better."
Saturday's results were a tough spin for Bountiful, the defending 4A champion, which saw all of its singles title-winners from last year knocked out of the tournament.
Russell and Bacon had an opportunity to defend their crowns, but the Braves' top ace Kanella Adamson ran into a road block in the semifinal. Orem's Erica Valimaki, who fell to Adamson in last year's first singles final, battled her for a three-hour, three-set marathon match that stole the show on the day.
Adamson went up a set by winning a tiebreaker, but Valimaki played aggressively and surged to the net to come back for the win. The Tigers' star junior breezed through her final match, a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Skyline's Alyssa Evensen, to win the state title she couldn't bring home last year.
"The semi was really tough, and you had to be mentally and physically into it," Valimaki said. "It was hard to come back, but I just tried to relax and not get too worked up. I just stuck to the game plan."
Woods Cross, which tied Bountiful for second place, had a plan of its own that worked to perfection. Kate Cowley and Mel Low, two singles players who paired together midway through the season, easily topped Skyline's first doubles duo in a 6-2, 6-1 final.
Low and Cowley said they were willing to play as a doubles team because their coach figured it would give the Wildcats a chance to fare better in the state tournament. The other Woods Cross doubles team of Megan Bell and Lauren Bretzling that moved into second doubles also won its bracket, giving the Wildcats a share of some team hardware.
"We never worried about it after we made the decision to move to doubles," Low said. "We're just happy we can show our school how hard we worked as a team."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Saturday's results
R Individual results
1st singles • Erica Valimaki (Orem) def. Alyssa Evensen (Skyline); 6-1, 6-2
2nd singles • Erin Blessing (Skyline) def. Kasey Bacon (Bountiful); 6-4, 6-2
3rd singles • Sydney Monson (Skyline) def. Nikki Russell (Bountiful); 6-1, 7-5
1st doubles • Mel Low and Katie Cowley (Woods Cross) def. Analisa Nielson and Suzanna Garbett (Skyline); 6-2, 6-1
2nd doubles • Megan Bell and Lauren Bretzling (Woods Cross) def. Emily Love and Nicole Evensen (Skyline); 7-6 (10-8), 6-1
Team results
1st • Skyline. 2nd • Woods Cross/Bountiful (tie)
4th • Orem. 5th • Highland/East (tie)