With the 2018 regular seasons for Sedona Red Rock High School’s boys and girls tennis teams having come to a close on Tuesday, April 17, the Scorpions spent the rest of the week preparing for the state tournament.

For the second year running, the boys qualified for the team tournament, and will take on No. 5 Phoenix Country Day School. Boys coach Phil Kovac said he liked how his team played in Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to No. 8 Anthem Preparatory Academy in the regular season finale. First up, the boys and girls are sending singles and double representatives to Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale for their respective tournaments beginning Friday, April 20.

“I’m very proud of how they finished up [Tuesday]. Anthem Prep beat us last time 7-2; we could have won that match [Tuesday],” Kovac said. “I think we’re going to do well. I think we’re going to surprise [Phoenix Country Day].”

On the boys side, junior Kai Zimmerman returns as the Scorpions’ singles player. Zimmerman’s regular season record as the No. 1 was 10-1, and earned a first-round bye.

His second round opponent is a familiar foe in Northland Preparatory Academy senior Adam Nicol, the No. 7 seed. Zimmerman beat Nicol in each of their two matches during the past two seasons.

The familiarity of opponent and state tournament experience should be useful, but without getting overconfident.
“I’m trying not to be cocky, but definitely confident and not scared, and I’m going to do my best,” Zimmerman said. “It’s going to be nice to know what’s going on and not be scared or intimidated, but just going to be a play-by-play basis, just the luck of the draw.”

The doubles team of senior Max Knaus and junior Trevor Stovall will take on a duo from Santa Cruz Valley High School. Knaus and Stovall have partnered all season long and enter the tournament on a high note, defeating Anthem Prep’s No. 2 doubles team on Tuesday.

“They have a darn good chance, these guys have come a long way. Max has played three years [at state], this is Trevor’s first,” Kovac said.

As a team, the Scorpions [8-4, 4-2 Division III, Section VI] improved on their 14th seed in 2017 to No. 12 this year, and travels to No. 5 Phoenix Country Day [11-0, 5-0 Division III, Section VII] on Wednesday, April 25. Kovac feels that the team, which fields a more experienced roster than in 2017, is playing well heading into the tournament.

“All I can say is I think we have a chance, yes,” Kovac said. “If our boys play up to their caliber, anything can happen.”

Girls Send Singles, Doubles Players

As a team, the girls finished the season at 6-7 overall and 3-3 in Division III, Section VI, dropping its final three matches of the season. Missing from those three was sophomore Leilani Olson, the team’s regular No. 2.

Olson, who returned to practice on Wednesday, April 18, and sophomore Aria Harness are playing doubles. The two played together throughout their entire freshman year, including the state tournament. They only played together once this season.

Their goal is to reach the second round after having lost in the first round in 2017. Between them and achieving that goal is a sister duo from Valley Union High School.

“We’re definitely going to try harder, we already know what we’re expecting: It’s long, it’s hot. I think we just have to bring our game on Friday, that’s all we can really do,” Olson said.

Freshman Sofia Zimmerman, Kai’s younger sister, will play singles. Sofia Zimmerman went 6-7 at No. 1 for the Scorpions, and aims to make it to the third round on Saturday. In order to do so, she must only win one match as she also received a first-round bye. She will face off against either Yuma Catholic High School junior Anna Arce or Sahuarita High School junior Sammi Gutierrez.

“I think as a freshman, I’m extremely excited. She had a big load to carry; she played No. 1 all season long as a freshman. She got tons of experience playing and she’s a smart kid, she absorbed a lot,” girls coach Claudette Laliberte said. “I’m really excited to see how well she does.”

Although it did not qualify for the team tournament, Laliberte was satisfied with the season. The roster of mostly underclassmen and first-year players sets up the potential for success in the future.

“I’m not very disappointed. I have so many young players on the team, I have only one senior and she just started playing this year. Hopefully the top four that I have will come back next year,” Laliberte said. “I’m not disappointed, I’m glad that a lot of younger players got a lot of experience playing.”