DIVISION I GIRLS: Coronado, Bishop Gorman punch ticket to state final

RENO — Even an eight-hour bus ride to Reno couldn’t slow area schools in the Division I girls state tennis tournament on Thursday.

Sunrise Region champion Coronado defeated the North’s No. 1 seed Reno 12-6, and Sunset champ Bishop Gorman made easy work of Galena, 14-4, to advance to today’s state final.

Coronado juniors Paris Reese and Samantha Smith each won all three of her sets by at least three games and earned half of the 12 team points Coronado scored to move on to the final round against Bishop Gorman.

“I call Paris my silent assassin because she doesn’t say a lot but when she steps on the court — her play says it all,” Coronado coach Luther Bohanan said. “Sammy and Paris both did what I expected, and it’s very refreshing to have players like them that I can depend on to get three points.”

“We lost a few points in the third round, but at that point, it didn’t matter because of Paris and Sammy.”

The Huskies only earned one singles victory from Elissa Pavelea, who defeated Cougars’ Nicole Gardner 6-3.

“Coronado definitely did what they normally do,” Reno junior Sloan Walker said. “We were obviously hoping to win, but they definitely earned their spot in the finals because they’re really good — they’re a Vegas school.”

“Vegas just laid it all out like they always do, and we fought back, but we’ll just have to wait for next year.”

Gorman’s contest was slightly more lopsided, as the Gaels sped out to an 11-1 lead heading into the final round, making it impossible for Galena make a comeback

The Gaels’ Amber Del Rosario swept her competition 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 to help her team make it to the final.

“Coming up from Vegas, the level of competition is higher down there all season long, battling week in and week out with top quality tennis players,” Galena coach Jim Eftimoff said. “In Northern Nevada, we have a shortage of tennis players at this time so we don’t get that week in and week out.
“It’s hit and miss, but if we could raise our competition here in the north — it would have helped us a lot.”

The Southern powers will meet at noon today for the title.

Coronado’s silent assassin doesn’t seem worried, and she stuck to her reputation — keeping her answer short and sweet when asked if she thought the Cougars could pull off a state championship.

“We’re going to be an intimidating team to beat,” she said.