The Sedona Red Rock High boys tennis team lost a tough one Wednesday, May 2, losing to Florence High 5-4. This loss eliminates SRRHS from the state team playoffs.

The Sedona Red Rock High boys tennis team lost a tough one Wednesday, May 2, losing to Florence High 5-4. This loss eliminates SRRHS from the state team playoffs.

A total of nine points were possible, with six singles matches and three doubles matches scheduled.

The team to record five points would move on to the tennis state team championship.

In singles play, sophomore Luke Dumyahn defeated Kurt Waardenburg in two straight sets, 6-1 and 6-3.

Senior Nick Reynolds beat Louis Mariscal in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-4.

?Nick Reynolds had a great day. It?s the best tennis Nick has ever played in four years,? Head Coach Larry Lineberry said.

Andy Swartwout won his match against Alex Neimath 7-5, 7-5.

It seemed as if a trip to the championship match was all at hand with three points already in the bag.

But it just would not work out that way for the Scorpions.

?I would say general net play, our team didn?t play as good as it could have. Literally, if one or two more shots at the net were won, we could have won the match, we would have won the match,? Lineberry said.

Senior Daniel Juda played a tough, competitive match. He took the first set, 7-5, fighting for every point against Kasey Maharin.

In the second set, both players were tied 6-6, but Maharin was victorious with a 7-4 tiebreaker to take the second set.

Juda seemed to be just out of gas for the third set, as he lost to Maharin 6-2.

Sophomore Graham Greenfield lost his match to Reid Hatch 6-1 and 6-4.

And Luke Keckeis lost his match to Al Woods 6-3 and 6-0.

?We could have won the match in

singles. We were way better I thought. There is six singles matches and only three doubles matches. We need to take care of business,? Reynolds said.

With the point score tied at three to three, it was on to doubles.

Dumyahn and Swartwout would team up against Mariscal and Woods for a dominating 8-3 match victory.

Unfortunately that was the last point the Scorpions would tally as the rest of the day would belong to the Gophers.

?I think we dropped our heads too much. We need to keep playing and keep our heads up,? Dumyahn said.

Greenfield and Keckeis would team up and face Neimath and Hatch but would lose a close battle 8-6.

?There were some fairly easy shots at the net that we had as a team in doubles and singles that we did not convert. And it let the other team back in the match, and we paid the price,? Lineberry said.

The last match of the day showcased the two seniors Reynolds and Juda, the top doubles duo for the Scorpions.

They would face the top duo for the Gophers as well, Waardenburg and Maharin.

The two seniors did what they could, but it just was not working on this day, as they lost the match 8-3.

?I think we had a bad day. You just have bad days. It is a mental thing,? Reynolds said.

Florence will now move on and play for the state team championship against Sahuarita.

The match will take place at the Phoenix Tennis Center on Friday, May 4, at 9 a.m.

?It was certainly not a lack of effort from our team. Everybody was out there giving their best effort,? Lineberry said.

The Scorpions cannot focus on today?s performance, as the individual state

championships are right around the corner.

?I?m going to tell them to forget about this, it is over. It?s history. They only need to concentrate on their next match,? Lineberry said.

The state tennis tournament for singles and doubles are held at the Phoenix Tennis Center and are scheduled for Friday, May 4, and Saturday, May 5.