Region 9 girls tennis recap: unbeaten Crimson Cliffs on top, 4 teams tied for 2nd

Written by Jeff Richards
September 10, 2020
Pine View’s Kayli Hirschi and Dixie’s Sally Fraser give thumbs up after their grueling 2.5-hour varsity tennis match at Pine View, St. George, Utah, Sept. 3, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Todd Staheli, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Three matches into the regular Region 9 girls tennis season, only one team remains unbeaten: the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs, who won at Cedar on Sept. 1, then edged past Desert Hills 3-2 at home Sept. 3.

In the Desert Hills match, the Thunder’s Kenzie Telford beat Crimson’s Taylor Parsley in first singles, 6-3, 6-3, but the Mustangs won the other two varsity singles contests, with Avery Beck defeating Tia Turley and Camryn Stanger defeating Malika Maxwell, with both matches going three sets. Crimson Cliffs also won the first doubles match, with Gabbey Hafen and London Wunderli teaming up for a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Desert Hills.

The top players of both Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills had also competed Aug. 28-29 in the St. George Invitational sponsored by Stephen Wade. The tournament attracted 24 schools from around the state. In addition to Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills, Dixie and Snow Canyon also represented Region 9. Crimson Cliffs placed second overall as a team, with Highland, a 6A school in Salt Lake City, placing first overall in the top bracket.

For Crimson Cliffs, Beck, a junior in the second singles bracket, and Stanger, a sophomore in No. 3 singles, both went undefeated during the tournament. Additionally, Parsley took third in first singles, and Hafen and Wunderli took third in first doubles. For Desert Hills, Telford, Turley and Maxwell all took second place in their respective singles brackets, while Brooklyn Price and Taylee Anderson teamed up to take third place in No. 2 doubles.

Crimson Cliffs High School girls tennis players and coach Colin Brown (holding trophy) after taking second place in the St. George Invitational sponsored by Stephen Wade, St. George, Utah, Aug. 29, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Kris Bullock, St. George News

“We have a solid team and our future looks bright, with only one senior on varsity,” said Crimson Cliffs head coach Colin Brown. “We are still growing and developing as a team, with some great competition in our region. We also feel our team is very deep. Many of our junior varsity players could compete at the varsity level if we had the spots.”

After getting swept at home by Crimson Cliffs on Sept. 1, the Cedar High Reds bounced back to win their match at Canyon View 4-1 two days later, as first-year Cedar head coach Tim Roelofs picked up his first region win.

“I was an assistant tennis coach last year at Canyon View, so I knew most of the players,” Roelofs told Cedar City News. “I’m proud that our No. 1 and No. 2 singles came back to win after losing the first set.”

Cedar’s Abigail Brown outlasted Canyon View’s Safina Blachly in first singles, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Savannah Jones came back to defeat Danielle Buschman in second singles in similar fashion 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Canyon View’s Kiesa Hunt picked up the Falcons’ only win of the day, defeating Kaylee Coles in third singles, 6-4, 6-3.

In first doubles,Cedar’s  Abby Davis and Grace Morales defeated Canyon View’s Lainee Carter and Julean Valerius 6-3, 6-3. In second doubles, Cedar’s Brynlee Cozzens and Jessica Grant defeated McKenzie Johnson and Kennedy Rigby, 6-2, 7-5.

Pine View at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 1, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Pine View Panthers also fared well at Canyon View on Sept. 1, sweeping the Falcons 5-0. In that match, Ava Blake defeated Blachly 6-2, 6-2 in first singles; Kayli Hirschi defeated Buschman in second singles, 6-0, 6-0; and Brianne Dinsmore defeated Hunt in third singles, 7-6 (5), 6-0.

In first doubles, Pine View’s Gretta Poulson and Grace Slater defeated Canyon View’s Carter and Valerius, 6-3, 6-1, while in second doubles, Kylie Blaser and Emma Farish defeated Sydney Meacham and Rigby, 6-1, 6-2.

At Pine View on Sept. 3, the Panthers faced the Dixie Flyers, with Dixie prevailing 4-1.

“Pine View’s third singles player was down in the second set but had to forfeit before they could finish due to heat exhaustion,” said Dixie head coach Todd Staheli, adding that temperatures were around 105 degrees that afternoon. “We had three girls who were having a hard time in the heat. It’s about 10 degrees hotter on the courts.”

A highlight of the Dixie vs. Pine View match was the grueling 2.5-hour battle between Dixie’s Sally Fraser and Pine View’s Hirschi in second singles. Hirschi won the first set 6-2, but Fraser came back to win the next two, 6-4, 6-1.

Dixie had also swept Hurricane at Dixie on Sept. 1. The Flyers are now 2-1 in region play, putting them in a four-way tie for second place along with Desert Hills, Snow Canyon and Pine View. See updated standings chart at bottom of story.

The team results for last week’s Region 9 matches are as follows:

Tuesday, Sept. 1

  • Pine View def. Canyon View, 5-0
  • Dixie def. Hurricane, 5-0
  • Desert Hills def. Snow Canyon, 5-0
  • Crimson Cliffs def. Cedar, 5-0

Thursday, Sept. 3

  • Dixie def. Pine View, 4-1
  • Snow Canyon def. Hurricane, 5-0
  • Cedar def. Canyon View, 4-1
  • Crimson Cliffs def. Desert Hills, 3-2

This week, there are four matches scheduled for Thursday afternoon: Cedar at Pine View, Snow Canyon at Dixie, Canyon View at Desert Hills and Crimson Cliffs at Hurricane. 

Region 9 girls tennis standings (as of Sept. 9)

  1. Crimson Cliffs 3-0
  2. (tie) Desert Hills 2-1
  3. (tie) Snow Canyon 2-1
  4. (tie) Pine View 2-1
  5. (tie) Dixie 2-1
  6. Cedar 1-2
  7. (tie) Canyon View 0-3
  8. (tie) Hurricane 0-3

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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