Heading into the last week of the regular season, the Falcon tennis squads managed to claim two more wins apiece against opponents from Scottsdale Christian and Paradise Valley.

With both teams finishing the regular season in second place for the section, the Falcons now prepare for a run on state.

Scottsdale

The Falcons began their week playing host to the team from Scottsdale Christian.

According to head coach David Phillips, the Falcons knew they needed to claim wins in both matches if they wanted to secure comfortable spots in the state tournament.

This proved less difficult than expected for the boys in their outing against Scottsdale Christian, as the opposition could only muster four players to take on the Falcons.

Phillips said the top four Falcons blew through their opponents, with David Rothweil, Ethan Green, David Strayer and Michael Suchanek all earning sound victories.

The doubles pairing of Ethan Green and Kolton Coultrap also found a win, though Rothweil and Strayer had some trouble in their pairings and fell behind. The boys went on to win 8-1 overall.

Over to the girls and it was a similar story as the Eagles could only field three singles and two doubles teams.

Jenna Serrano started things off with an unchallenged singles win while Laura Anderson entered into a more even pairing before pushing through and claiming a victory.

Tatum James had a see-saw match with her opponent, racing out to a comfortable lead before hitting a mental block that nearly turned affairs in the other direction. Phillips said a supportive hometown crowd helped cheer her on to victory, however.

Up 6-0 after singles play, Phillips said there was no pressure on the doubles pairings. Dunham and James dropped what Phillips said should have been a straightforward victory for the ladies, losing due to too many unforced errors. Paige Despain and Emily Johnson, two promising freshmen, lost their match against a far more experienced pair in what Phillips said turned out to be a great learning experience.

Paradise Valley

“After losing to the Cortez Colts the previous week, the boys knew it was a must win to ensure their position in the state team competition,” Phillips said.

“The boys started promisingly with three wins from three doubles matches as Rothweil, Gren, Strayer, Suchanek, Coultrap and Josh Quan were named as the six players to participate in both singles and doubles.”

After winning their doubles competitions, all six guys went on to claim singles wins, earning an impressive 9-0 final victory.

The same show was on display from the girls as Serrano, Coveney, Dunham, James, Paulsen and Anderson all recorded straight victories in their singles sets.

In doubles play, the Falcons only lost one match, moving to an 8-1 final team victory.