Fallon falls short at state tourney

RENO – Four-straight days of tournament tennis and ineligibility issues proved to be too challenging for the Lady Wave tennis team to overcome last week.

Fallon, which won the league and regional 3A titles, lost to Desert Pines, 11-7, in Thursday’s state semifinal round after resuming a weather-stricken regional singles and doubles tournament Tuesday and Wednesday in Truckee.

“I was very proud of my girls for getting seven points on Thursday and I actually do believe if had the other two players, (who were) part of our starters, it would have been a lot closer,” Fallon coach Jessica Nuckolls said. “It will remind me in the future for the girls to get all their homework done.”

Fallon’s doubles teams shined against the Jaguars, picking up two points in each of the three rounds.

Senior duos of Izzy Martinez and Kayla Bekiares and Lana Quint and Paula Duenas each went 2-1 against the Jaguars. Senior Mikaela McCormick and freshman Brooklynn Whitaker also won two matches.

In singles, senior Melanie Nuckolls was the lone victor as she won in her third and final attempt. Nuckolls also won her resumed regional title match against Truckee to claim the No. 1 seed for the state tournament.

Martinez and Bekiares, Quint and Duenas, and Nuckolls qualified for state but lost in the opening round on Friday in Truckee.

Coach Nuckolls was pleased about her top doubles team and daughter, Melanie, making adjustments at state after seeing their opponent in the state team tournament.

“To see my seniors compensate, the scores on Friday were a lot closer than Thursday as a team,” she said. “Just in that short time, my girls were able to figure out their opponents and play better. That was important.”

For the boys, which were ousted in the team tournament, Mattia Astori advanced to state in singles after an upset in the third-place match of regionals. Astori, though, lost to The Meadows in the first round in Truckee on Friday.