Miners finish seventh in state girls tennis tournament
Nov 17, 2020 01:23PM ● By Josh Mc Fadden
The Bingham girls tennis team capped off a strong region season with a top-10 finish at state. (Wikimedia Commons)
By Josh McFadden | [email protected]
The Bingham girls tennis team had the highest finish among Region 3 teams at the Class 6A state tennis tournament, held Oct. 8, 10 at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. Overall, the Miners placed seventh in a deep and talented field.
Bingham totaled six points, scoring points at four different positions. Skyridge had 22 points to win the tournament. Bingham was just a single point behind Pleasant Grove and Layton, who tied for fifth place.
Junior Avery Pack had the best individual performance for the Miners at the tournament. The second singles player entered the event seeded No. 1 from Region 3 thanks to her unblemished 12-0 regular season record. Pack had no trouble in the first round, ousting her opponent in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Things got much tougher in round two.
It took three sets for Pack to get past Reagan Harrison of Weber. After losing the first set 6-4, Pack outlasted Harrison 6-4, 6-2 in the final two sets to move to the semifinals. There, Pack suffered her first defeat of the year at the hands of eventual champion Lucy Droubay of Skyridge, falling 6-0, 7-5.
The second doubles tandem of Jacey Robins and Kaitlyn Oniki also advanced to the semifinals. The juniors won 6-3, 6-0 in the first round and 6-3, 6-2 in round two. The pair, who had gone 10-2 during the regular season and emerged as Region 3 champions, came up against a duo from Lone Peak that lost just once during the regular season. Robins and Oniki battled but couldn’t overcome their talented opponents, losing 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Bingham senior Lexi Cox won all 12 of her regular-season matches at third singles. She earned a top seed from Region 3 and breeze through the opening round, winning 6-1, 6-0 over an opponent from West Jordan. A tough foe from Lone Peak proved to be too much in the second round, however. Cox’s season ended with a 6-3, 6-4 loss there.
At first doubles, seniors Malia Hansen Roberts were the top seeds from Region 3 after posting an 11-1 regular-season record. They won in the first round, 6-3, 6-2, giving the Miner a point in the standings. A duo from Skyridge overcame them in the second round 6-3, 6-1.
Junior Olivia Dabo also qualified for the state tournament at first singles after going 10-4 during the regular season. Dabo lost her opening match 6-1, 6-4 to a player from Layton High School.
Four of Bingham’s seven state qualifiers will return to the team for the 2021 season.
