TENNIS: Nederland racks up titles

Published 2:23 pm Friday, April 6, 2018

The District 22-5A tennis championships in Vidor wrapped up Friday with a bang.

Alex Luketich of Nederland and Noah Moore of Port Neches-Groves battled in a three-set thriller in the boys singles final, with Luketich pulling out a 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 victory.

“Most of the coaches standing there said that was the best singles finals in a long time,” Nederland coach Jorge Lopez said. “The points were brutal and they were hitting the ball for broke.”

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As intense as that match turned out to be, that was just one of many titles Nederland won in the two-day tournament.

Teammates Jayci Wong and Han Vo cruised into the girls singles final without losing a game. Wong won the final 6-0, 6-0, for her third straight district championship.

“Jayci’s playing some of the best tennis she’s ever had,” Lopez said. “She got to the finals in Galveston one week ago, and that’s the biggest high school tournament in Texas. She got to the finals and lost to one of the top-ranked players in Texas.”

Wong has finished second in the 5A Region III championships each of the past two seasons but qualified for the state tournament each time.

Zack Buff and Jarret Atterberry took the boys doubles titles, and Nederland took the top two spots in the mixed doubles with Tommy Hoang and Nhi Huynh winning 6-0, 6-1 over Tereul Jimenez and Heidi Hardy in the final.

Dalton Broussard and Jack Holtham of PNG earned second in the boys doubles. Buff and Atterberry won that final 6-2, 7-6.

PNG earned silver in the girls doubles with Samantha Garza and Melanie Ramos. The pair had won the first set , but Livingston’s Mia Brumley and Aubrey Cherry came back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The top two in all divisions except mixed doubles (only the champion) advance to the 5A Region III meet April 19-20 at the Blythe Calfee Tennis Center in Willis.

— I.C. Murrell

 

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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