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Since she's only a freshman, Park City's Livi Rockwood got to experience a bunch of new things on Saturday.

Sure, she's been in championship matches of tournaments before — even won them.

But the scene at Liberty Park was a little bit different at the Class 3A girls' state tennis tournament. For one thing, those watching the singles finals match between Rockwood and Desert Hills' Madz Eames exceeded a couple of people with hands grasping the fence.

"I've never played state before, so it was a real fun experience. It was different than other tournaments, because there were so many people there cheering for you," Rockwood said.

Rockwood herself made the experience complete by beating Eames 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

"The second set, my coach came up to me and said it was a fresh start," Rockwood said. "A fresh start was kind of the best option for me.

"I started being confident in my strokes instead of being tentative," she added. "I was a little nervous."

Rockwood's win in first singles led Park City to the overall team title as the Miners' 26 points were enough to beat Grantsville's score of 23.

While Bailie Sandberg took second singles and the Cowboys' first doubles team of Whitney Castagno and Lexi Jackson earned titles, Park City had Rockwood's victory to go along with a third singles win by Taylor Matz.

With the graduation of last year's first singles champ, Pine View's Lacey Hancock, the door seemed wide open this season for 2014 runner-up Eames.

But, early on, Eames realized that a championship to end her high school career was not going to come easy. After the loss to Rockwood, which confirmed that early suspicion, Eames was the definition of a gracious loser.

"I played Livi early in the season in a tournament down in St. George and she destroyed me," Eames said. "It was like a 20-minute match. I knew I would meet her in the [state] finals, so that's what I worked on this year — how to perfect my game so I could be my best.

"Before I knew about her, I thought I had it in the bag and I wasn't even going to have to work," the Desert Hills senior added. "Because of her, my game has gotten so much better." —

Results

No. 1 singles finals • Livi Rockwood, Park City, def. Madz Eames, Desert Hills, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0

No. 2 singles finals • Bailie Sandberg, Grantsville, def. Gabby Rockwood, Park City, 7-5, 7-6

No. 3 singles finals • Taylor Matz, Park City, def. Morgan Matthews, Grantsville, 6-2, 6-2

No. 1 doubles finals • Whitney Castagno/Lexi Jackson, Grantsville, def. Marina Mayo/Julianna Signor, Park City, 6-2, 7-6

Final team standings • 1. Park City, 26; 2. Grantsville, 23; 3. Desert Hills, 9; 4 (tie). Logan, 6; 4 (tie). Pine View, 6