Region 9 tennis recap: Crimson Cliffs on top with Desert Hills, Pine View 1 game back

Snow Canyon at Pine View, St. George, Utah, Sept. 15, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — As the Region 9 girls tennis regular season winds to a close this week, players are hoping to finish strong in order to land favorable bracket seedings for the upcoming region and state tournaments.

Tia Turley of Desert Hills, Canyon View at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Sept. 10, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

With just two regular-season matches remaining, both of which will be played this week, undefeated Crimson Cliffs is in first place with a 5-0 record in dual matches against region opponents. However, both Desert Hills and Pine View are tied for second place with 4-1 records. Pine View plays both Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills this week.

But while Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills both won their most recent two matches by 5-0 sweeps, Pine View won both of theirs by 3-2 margins. 

In the Panthers’ home match against Cedar on Sept. 10, Pine View won all three singles matches, but Cedar managed to win both doubles contests. The closest match of the day was in No. 1 doubles when Cedar’s Abby Davis and Grace Morales outlasted Pine View’s Gretta Poulsen and Grace Slater, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Then, on Sept. 15, Pine View defeated Snow Canyon in similar fashion, 3-2, with the Panthers improving to 4-1 with the home victory.

The Dixie Flyers also played at home Sept. 10 when they defeated Snow Canyon 4-1. Dixie’s only loss of the day came in No. 1 doubles when Snow Canyon rebounded from a 4-6 loss in the first set to win the next two, 6-1, 6-3.

Hurricane at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 15, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Flyers had had a tougher time in their next home match on Sept. 15 when they fell to Crimson Cliffs 5-0. Two of the singles matches went the full three sets, however, as Avery Beck outlasted Dixie’s Sally Fraser in No. 2 singles, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and Camryn Stanger defeated Sara Harr in third singles, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

“Dixie came ready to play and we struggled to execute, but we were able to pull through,” Crimson Cliffs head coach Colin Brown said. 

Also on Sept. 15, Canyon View picked up its first region win of the season at home when the Falcons defeated the Hurricane Tigers, 3-2. Canyon View won all three singles matches, while the Tigers earned wins in both doubles events.

Additionally, several of the region’s top players competed in an eight-team invitational tournament held Sept. 11-12 at the Tonaquint Tennis Center in St. George.

In that event, Desert Hills took first place as a team, with runner-up Crimson Cliffs finishing just one point behind. In No. 1 singles, Kenzie Telford of Desert Hills went undefeated in five matches during the tournament. Also going undefeated at 5-0 during the two-day event were Crimson Cliffs singles players Avery Beck and Camryn Stanger, who swept the No. 2 and No. 3 singles brackets, respectively.

Desert Hills tennis players and coaches with first-place trophy at the St. George Invitational, St. George, Utah, Sept. 12, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Kris Bullock, St. George News

Salem Hills captured the No. 1 doubles crown but Kasia Wittwer and Brianna Hartman of Desert Hills took second and London Wunderli and Gabbey Hafen of Crimson Cliffs took third.

In No. 2 doubles, the Desert Hills duo of Taylee Anderson and Brooklyn Price went undefeated, while the second-place spot went to Whitney Mathison and Ashtyn Cummings of Crimson Cliffs.

In addition to Region 9 schools Desert Hills, Crimson Cliffs, Dixie and Pine View, the tournament also featured teams from Salem Hills, Spanish Fork, Ogden and Lehi.

Following are the results of the most recent two Region 9 matches, along with a look ahead at this week’s scheduled contests. The Region 9 tournament is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 at the Tonaquint Tennis Center in St. George. The top six placers in each bracket from the Region 9 tournament will qualify for the state 4A tournament, scheduled for Oct. 9-10 at Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park.

Thursday, Sept. 10 results

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

Tuesday, Sept. 15 results

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

This week’s matches are as follows, with the starting times for varsity matches usually being at 4 p.m.:

Tuesday, Sept. 22

  • Dixie at Cedar
  • Desert Hills at Hurricane
  • Snow Canyon at Canyon View
  • Pine View at Crimson Cliffs

Thursday, Sept. 24

  • Cedar at Hurricane
  • Pine View at Desert Hills
  • Canyon View at Dixie
  • Crimson Cliffs at Snow Canyon

Region 9 girls tennis standings (as of Sept. 21)

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

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

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