Crimson Cliffs edges Desert Hills to claim state 4A tennis title

Crimson Cliffs, state 4A high school tennis champions, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Kristin Bullock, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Crimson Cliffs Mustangs won the state 4A girls tennis title Saturday, edging region rival and defending state champion Desert Hills by winning three of the four finals matches that pitted the two schools against each other.

Tia Turley of Desert Hills, Utah state 4A high school tennis championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 9, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Jenny Maxwell, St. George News

The two-day event took place at Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park.

The deciding match was the No. 1 doubles finals that culminated Saturday afternoon. 

Just as they had done at the Region 9 tournament St. George last week, Gabby Hafen and London Wunderli of Crimson Cliffs defeated Kasia Wittwer and Brianna Hartman of Desert Hills. The scores of the two matches a week apart were almost identical, with Hafen and Wunderli winning 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday vs. 7-5, 6-0 last week.

“We knew from the beginning it was going to come down to the wire, and that we’re going to be against Desert Hills the entire time,” Crimson Cliffs coach Colin Brown told St. George News. 

In the overall standings at the state tournament, Crimson Cliffs finished with 23 team points to Desert Hills’ 20 points. Green Canyon was a distant third with 12 points. 

Heading into their last match, Crimson Cliffs had a 21-20 lead over Crimson Cliffs, as the Mustangs had earlier beaten the Thunder in two out of the three singles finals. If the Thunder had won that last doubles finals match (or either of the other two brackets in which they finished second), Desert Hills would have taken state by a single point, 22-21.

Gabby Hafen and London Wunderli of Crimson Cliffs embrace Kasia Wittwer and Brianna Hartman of Desert Hills, Utah state 4A high school tennis championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Kristin Bullock, St. George News

Also finishing first in their respective brackets Saturday for Crimson Cliffs were Taylor Parsley, who defeated Mackenzie Telford of Desert Hills in first singles, 6-2, 6-2; and Camryn Stanger, who beat Malika Maxwell of Desert Hills in third singles, 6-0, 6-2.

The Thunder’s lone individual state champion was Tia Turley in second doubles. Turley defeated Averee Beck of Crimson Cliffs, 6-4, 6-4.

The only bracket that didn’t feature a Crimson Cliffs vs. Desert Hills final was in second doubles, where Green Canyon defeated Cache County rival Ridgeline.

“Hats off to Desert Hills,” Brown added. “They really came to play.  We’ve appreciated having a great competitor this year, and I look forward to many more years of competition.”

“Hats off to Region 9 also,” he added. “It shows the strength of our region.”

Besides the Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills competitors, two other Region 9 athletes advanced to Saturday’s semifinals: Kylie Kezos of Dixie in first singles and Kayli Hirschi of Pine View in second singles. Both were eliminated in that round by Desert Hills opponents (Telford and Turley, respectively).

Click here to see full results of every bracket, along with a listing of team scores on the Utah High School Activities Association website.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

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

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!