ROUNDUP: Liberty boys knock off Gators

Liberty sophomores Tristan Hoyle and Matthew Drongesen had one objective in the third round of Wednesday’s Division I Sunrise Region semifinal at Green Valley.

Their job was to stave off the Gators’ Matthew Chen and Isaac Wellish in the final match. In doing so, the Patriots would punch their ticket to the team final.

“We knew going into the final game we had a good chance to break their serve,” Hoyle said. “We were up close within the past couple of games, but we figured if we stepped it up and kept it away from their better player, we would have a good shot at it.”

The duo did exactly that, outlasting Chen and Wellish 6-4 in the deciding match to secure Liberty’s 10-8 victory and a spot in the Sunrise final against Coronado at 8 a.m. Saturday at Darling Tennis Center.

“We’re happy with the win,” said Liberty coach Kih Gourrier, whose team reached its first region final. “I knew it would be a close match; 10-8, 11-7, it didn’t really matter as long as we came out with the win.”

Hoyle and Drongesen went 3-0, including a 7-6 victory decided on the tiebreaker against Green Valley’s Jake Johnson and John John. After splitting six matches in the first round, Liberty (10-2) grabbed four points in the second round to take a 7-5 lead.

“We know we had some important matches that we knew we had to take care of today to keep us on top,” Hoyle said. “I figured right off the bat that we were going to have to go 3-0 in doubles for us to pull it off.”

Liberty’s Dylan Ihmels and Chitnarong Sopat each went 3-0 in singles.

The doubles teams of Chen and Wellish, Johnson and John, and Parker Phelps and Amar Shah each went 2-1 for the Gators (12-1).

The Patriots will face an undefeated Cougars squad that has captured the last seven Sunrise Region championships. Coronado defeated Liberty 13-5 in last year’s semifinal.

“It means a lot,” Gourrier said of the final. “Liberty has always been a small school — the little stepbrothers. When I got here today, all they wanted to know was 'How good is Coronado?’ That’s something we’ve always had to face: 'Yeah, you guys are Liberty, but how’s Coronado?’

“I had three people ask me that and I told them I kind of felt disrespected by that. That put a chip on my shoulder and I hope that puts a chip on the kids’ shoulders.”

Coronado 17, Foothill 1 — At Coronado, Cassell King went 3-0 in singles to lead the Cougars (12-0) over the Falcons (7-5).

Ryland McDermott and Sam Grant finished 3-0 in doubles for Coronado.

SUNSET REGION

Centennial 13, Spring Valley 5 — At Centennial, Max Novak and Lucas Lee each went 2-0 in singles to help the Bulldogs (13-0) cruise past the Grizzlies.

The doubles teams of Ricky Koplow and Parker McDonough, Dallan Johnson and Greg Madsen, and Noah Seigle and Hunter Stratton all went 2-0 for Centennial, which meets Palo Verde (13-0) for the region title at 1 p.m. Saturday at Darling Tennis Center.

Eric Clark was 2-1 in singles for Spring Valley (7-5).

Palo Verde 17, Bishop Gorman 1 — At Palo Verde, Trevor Johnson, Ozzy Abraham and Rhett Bossung all went 3-0 in singles as the Panthers blitzed the Gaels (9-3).

Welsey Mann and Conor Safbom were 3-0 in doubles for Palo Verde.

DIVISION I-A SOUTHERN REGION

The Meadows 15, Chaparral 3 — At Chaparral, Mario Gamboa and Alex Lanzkowsky each went 3-0 in singles as the Mustangs (12-3) won eight of the nine singles sets to defeat the Cowboys.

Adam Sklamberg and Peter Sklamberg were 3-0 in doubles, and Evan Roth was 2-0 in singles for The Meadows, which will face Clark (15-1) for the region title at 3 p.m. Friday at Darling Tennis Center.

Lalo Jimenez was 1-0 in singles to lead Chaparral (12-3).

Clark 13, Faith Lutheran 5 — At Clark, the Chargers used their depth to down the Crusaders (12-6).