Ravon Martin, at No. 1 singles, ended the regular season in a three-way tie for the No. 3 seed. After losing the coin-toss tiebreaker, Martin started the tournament at the No. 5 spot against Gunnison, to whom he had lost earlier in the season. The match turned out to be a repeat of the prior meeting, with both players showing consistent hitting.
The Gunnison player outlasted Martin, pushing him to the consolation side of the bracket. He next faced San Juan, and things started out well, with Martin taking the first set. The second set went back and forth with Martin seeming to have the upper hand, until a fall made his movement a bit slow and painful. Martin had the chance to finish the match, serving at 5-3 in the second set, but could not convert on two match points. His opponent went on to win in three sets, knocking Martin out of the tournament.
“It was a disappointment, but since he’s only a sophomore, he’ll be back, hopefully smarter and wiser,” said GCHS head tennis coach Ed DeFrancia. “I am not at all displeased with his effort all through the season.”
At No. 2 singles, and the bottom seed, Zak Hazlett was Grand’s biggest surprise. He played a steady game, but also lost to Gunnison. But Hazlett quickly rebounded to defeat San Juan. In the second match, he appeared to be in total control, taking the first set 6-3. San Juan wasn’t ready to give up, and came back to push the second set to a tie-break, which remained dead even up to 10-10, when Hazlett finally won a critical point and took the next, winning the tie-break 12-10.
“It wasn’t the prettiest set, but he found a way to win. That’s important,” said DeFrancia. The win carried Hazlett into his final match with confidence, facing a South Sevier player to whom he had lost just a week prior.
“Zak really stepped up his play, and completely dominated the match, winning 6-0, 6-2, earning him a berth at the state tournament next week,” DeFrancia said.
Brandon Johnson filled in to play No. 3 singles, as Matz Indergard was unable to compete. “Johnson knew he was in over his head, but was more than willing to give it his best effort,” DeFrancia said.
Johnson’s first match was against Manti. Johnson played well, and came up with several good shots, but was clearly the underdog. In his second match, Johnson faced another strong player, from Gunnison, with much the same results.
“I truly admire Brandon for giving it a go,” said DeFrancia. “He definitely prefers to play doubles, but he did it for the team. That is wonderful.”
The doubles teams of Johnson and Logan Lewis (No. 1) and Swain Begaye and Kory Sheldon (No. 2) both came it as No. 6 seeds. Begaye and Sheldon dropped their first match to a strong Parowan team, but came back to defeat Gunnison, 7-5, 6-3. This put them into the fifth-place match against San Juan, with a chance to qualify for state.
Grand’s No. 2 doubles team started a bit slow, and dropped the first set 6-1. Begaye and Sheldon rebounded, but fell just short, losing the second set 7-5.
Johnson and Lewis nearly pulled off the upset of the day. Facing the No. 3 seed from Gunnison, they lost the first set 6-3. After making adjustments to their game in the second set, Johnson and Lewis got two breaks of serve and won that set 6-2. Grand’s No. 1 doubles team pushed the third set to a tie-break, but their more seasoned opponents put together a string of points, winning 7-4.
“In spite of the outcome, these guys played incredible tennis. They should be very proud of the effort,” said DeFrancia.
In their second match, Johnson and Lewis faced San Juan. They came out slow and fell behind, losing the first set 3-6. But they regrouped and cruised through the next two sets, winning 6-4, 6-2.
Gunnison went on to make it to the finals, losing to Manti in a very close match. Playing Richfield, Johnson and Lewis seemed to have little energy left, and lost 6-2, 6-3.
“These two need to believe in themselves, because they played better than they have ever played before,” DeFrancia said. “It was too bad that they came out on the short end, but it was still very exciting.”
Hazlett will represent Grand at the state tournament in Provo, at the BYU campus, on Saturday, May 9. Play will begin at 8:30.