SUNSET REGION: Clark’s Yee moves toward repeat after taking boys singles title

Last year, Kris Yee won Clark’s first boys tennis state singles title since 1986.

He doesn’t want the Chargers to wait 24 years for its next one.

Yee, ranked among the top 18-year-old players in the country, defeated Cimarron-Memorial’s Brian Foley 6-4, 6-0 on Friday in the Sunset Region final at Darling Tennis Center. Both players will advance to next week’s Class 4A state tournament.

“The first set I was struggling a little bit,” Yee said. “The second set I was starting to hit balls a little bit better, keeping the ball deep and keeping him off the offense a little bit more.”

A dedicated player, Yee is home schooled and attends a tennis academy at Lorenzi Park, where he trains from 8 a.m. to noon on weekdays and engages in match play on weekends.

“Tennis is kind of my whole life,” he said.

Yee decided to play tennis for Clark last year for fun and camaraderie.

“I didn’t know what I was missing,” said Yee, who has received recruiting interest from Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Pepperdine, among others. “Then I tried it and I had a lot of fun with the team and everybody. I’m mostly here for the fun part of it.”

Chargers coach Clarence Chun said Yee has made a huge impact on Clark’s team.

“The biggest thing about Kris that everybody should know is he works hard and is an inspiration for the whole team,” he said. “He strives to be the best and it picks up the whole team.

“That’s why the boys team went undefeated in the regular season. He just inspired it. He’s an excellent leader.”

Foley, a senior who attends the Darling Tennis Academy, suffered his first loss of the season.

“I played pretty good in the first set and was competing with him, but (Yee) won the big games in the end,” Foley said. “The second set, he picked up his level a little more and I kind of dropped. He’s smart and he never misses.”

Yee used a stellar kick-serve and backhand while covering a lot of ground on defense to win his region title. But Chun said his best attribute may be his intelligence.

“He’s a thinker on the court. That makes him unique,” he said. “A lot of times people rely only on their talent, but he has talent and he’s a thinker.”

In a rematch of last year’s Sunset girls singles final, Spring Valley’s Tiffany Tavares repeated as champion with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Palo Verde’s Victoire Saperstein.

Saperstein closed the gap on Tavares, who won 6-2, 6-0 in last year’s final and had only lost one game in her other four tournament matches.

In the boys doubles final, Palo Verde’s Tanner Berkabile and Ozzy Abraham beat Centennial’s Brandon Fish and Casey Moses, 6-2, 6-1.

Berkabile and Abraham lost in last year’s Sunset final but rebounded to win the state title.
In the girls doubles final, The Meadows’ Taler and Amanda Brazell rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over

Palo Verde’s Megan Randazzo and Sarah Sanders to claim their second straight Sunset crown.
The Brazells took second at state last year.

Third-place finishers were Centennial’s Travis Beck, who beat Palo Verde’s Zack Surmacz 6-1, 6-0; Bishop Gorman’s Chelsea Crovetti, who topped The Meadows’ Erika Mauban 6-3, 6-1; Clark’s Joseph Maalouf and Deric Pang, who cruised past Centennial’s Dallin Johnson and Dakota Trombley 6-2, 6-0; and Gorman’s Taylor Larreau and Morgan Matley, who downed Durango’s Andrea Melo and Katy Moore 6-1, 6-2.