Fallon doubles player Izzy Martinez and partner Kayla Bekiares (not shown) won the regional championship in Truckee this week.
After winning the team regional tournament two weeks ago, the Lady Wave tennis team qualified two doubles teams and one singles player for this week’s state tournament at the Tahoe Donner Tennis Center in Truckee.
The senior duo and No. 1 seed of Izzy Martinez and Kayla Bekiares defeated senior teammates and No. 2 seed Lana Quint and Paula Duenas in Wednesday’s regional championship in Truckee. Senior singles player and top seed Melanie Nuckolls’ championship bout was suspended due to darkness on Thursday and resumed after Fallon competed in the state team tournament in Reno.
In the state team tournament, Fallon took on Desert Pines on Thursday with the winner facing either The Meadows (No. 1, south) or Truckee (No. 2, north) today at noon for the state championship. Results from the semifinal were not available at press time.
Fallon brings some state experience to the tournament with Martinez and Bekiares each playing with separate partners and Nuckolls playing singles in last year’s event.
Martinez and graduated senior Paige Thorn advanced to the semifinal before falling in straight sets. The duo finished fourth overall. Bekiares teamed with graduated senior Haley Lindsay and they lost in the opening round. Nuckolls was the No. 4 seed from the north and lost to state champ Andrada Stanciu from Sierra Vista.
Martinez and Bekiares didn’t drop a set during the tournament after knocking off North Tahoe and two Truckee teams to face their teammates and score a 6-2 and 6-2 win. Duenas and Quint breezed past North Tahoe in the first match but had to come from behind against Sparks after dropping the first set in the quarterfinal. The same happened against South Tahoe in the semifinals where the Fallon duo lost an opening tiebreaker but won the next two sets, 6-2 and 6-4.
Senior Mikaela McCormick and freshman Brooklyn Whitaker lost their first match to Truckee.
Nuckolls defeated Incline’s Lily Price and Sparks’ Tatiana Gudiel to reach the semifinals where she battled back to defeat Truckee’s Annie Guerra in three sets on Wednesday. Nuckolls and Truckee’s Becky Ziegler split the first two sets with Nuckolls winning the first, 6-3, before falling 7-5 in the second.
Senior teammate Sarah Inglis defeated North Tahoe’s Emma Appleton in straight sets but fell to Guerra. Fallon senior Delaney Young was blanked in straight sets by Ziegler.
Martinez and Bekiares drew the south’s No. 4 seed, Desert Pines’ Shelly Alvarado and Yazaret Arredondo to open today’s action at 4 p.m. Quint and Duenas will face the No. 3 seed, The Meadows’ Peyton Barcel and Sara Blenkiron. Depending on Thursday’s outcome, a win pits Nuckolls against Desert Pines’ Cassandra Bueno (No. 4) or a loss has her facing Boulder City’s Tegan Pappas (No. 3).
The semifinals are Saturday at 9 a.m. with the championship and third-place match at noon.
Astori sneaks into state for boys
For the boys, singles player and No. 4 seed Mattia Astori lost in the semifinal but rebounded in the third-place match to qualify for state.
After losing to top seed Zach Hass of Truckee in the semifinal, senior Astori, the fourth seed, upset third-seed John LaRue of South Tahoe, 6-3 and 7-5. Astori defeated Incline’s Tyler Knight, 6-1 and 6-1, in the opener and then knocked off North Tahoe’s Murphy Scott, 6-4 and 7-5.
Haas won the individual title but Astori was the only player to score game wins (6-3).
Fellow singles players and sophomores Trent Nuckolls and Alex Perazzo were ousted in the first round. The doubles team of juniors Thomas Jamieson and Myles Getto won their opening match against North Tahoe in three sets but lost to Truckee in the quarterfinals. Senior Dylan Kubeny and junior Blake Malkovich also won their first match against North Tahoe in straight sets before falling to Truckee in the quarterfinal. Freshman Ben Jamieson and sophomore Compton Lords lost their opening match to Truckee.