One year after getting nearly all of their season canceled, Sedona Red Rock High School’s girls tennis team is making up for lost time.
The Scorpions hosted Kingman High School on Tuesday, March 30, the third match of the SRRHS season. Not only did Sedona move its overall record to 3-0 but the Scorpions remained perfect in individual matches, as well, winning 9-0, just as they had done in the season’s first two matches.
“I’ve played for four years and our team has never done so well,” said senior Sofia Zimmerman. “We have a real chance of winning state. And I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Zimmerman and her doubles partner, sophomore Natalie Arizmendi, got the day started on a good note, winning their doubles match 8-0. Zimmerman then shifted her focus to singles, where she’s Sedona’s No. 1 player. There, she notched a 6-1, 6-0 win.
Not only have the Scorpions won every individual match but most have not been close. Entering the contest with Kingman, only one of Sedona’s 12 total singles matches went to a third set and none of the doubles matchups were closer than 8-5.
While the Scorpions won all of their singles matches against the Bulldogs in straight sets, one doubles match was decidedly closer.
Sedona’s No. 1 doubles team of sophomores Rina Sato and Jillian Grondin took on Abramson and Alyssa Cedillo in the match of the day. The two teams went back-and-forth and after being tied at 7 games each, the match went to a tiebreaker. There, Sato and Grondin assumed command for good, scoring the first six points and winning 7-3 to post an 8-7 victory.
“It was a lot different — we got done pretty quickly against the teams that we played before,” Grondin said. “This was the first time that we went into a tiebreaker and there were a lot of nerves. But Rina and I, talked about it, had a little meeting. We decided to get our heads in the game and stop letting our nerves take over.”
In singles, Sato, the No. 2 singles player, won her match 6-4, 6-1 while No. 3 singles player, Grondin, won 6-0, 6-0. Arizmendi won 6-1, 6-3, senior Izzy Constante won 6-1, 6-0 and sophomore Joseline Arizmendi won 6-0, 6-1 to round out the singles matchups for Sedona. In addition to the teams of Sato and Grondin and Zimmerman and Arizmendi, the Scorpions No. 3 doubles team, Constante and sophomore Kaitlyn Otterlee, won 8-1.
Sedona coach Phil Kovac credited the team for their effort and willing to practice throughout the year. Grondin agreed and felt that the extra practice will really show when the Scorpions take on Anthem Prep and BASIS Flagstaff.
“I think we’re doing really good,” Grondin said. “We practice year round. I think our practice is really showing in these different matches. And our toughest games, which will show how much we practice, are BASIS and Anthem. Those are going to be the teams where we can really show our skills and have good matches.”
Sedona will get its first crack at those teams soon. The Scorpions hosted Anthem Prep on Thursday, April 1. While it was a much closer match than they’d grown accustomed to, Sedona remained undefeated, defeating the Eagles 5-4.
The SRRHS team will then host BASIS Flagstaff on Monday, April 5 with the Yeti hosting the rematch on Thursday, April 8. Both matches start at 3 p.m. The Scorpions will play Anthem Prep a second time, as well, in a 2 p.m. road match on Tuesday, April 20 in the season finale.
Beyond the success of the team, the Sedona players are happy to be on the court and playing after last season was cut prematurely.
“It’s weird — I will admit it’s weird,” Grondin said. “I played two games last year. I’ve been practicing for so long and now I’m coming back. It’s weird but I like it. I like playing competitive where I don’t know who I’m playing. I’m really happy to be back. I missed it. It’s good to play people who I don’t know.”
“It’s amazing, honestly,” added Zimmerman. “Last year I was pretty upset because I thought I had a good chance of going to state for individuals. This year is my senior year and I’m just, really thankful that I get to play.”
