The Green Devils sweep the finals in winning the 4A-7 title.
By LAURA LEE
Published April 21, 2004
SEMINOLE - St. Petersburg coach Alan Turnquist is waiting. Waiting for his team to come up against a little resistance.
It didn't come in the Class 4A, District 7 tournament at Seminole as the Green Devils swept the finals to win their second district title Tuesday.
"A couple of them haven't been tried," Turnquist said. "They haven't faced any real adversity."
Perhaps Turnquist will get what he's looking for in the region tournament when St. Petersburg travels to Naples Lely Friday. So far, the Green Devils as a team haven't lost a match and their starters remain undefeated as well.
The toughest matches for St. Petersburg were in the No. 3 and 4 singles, and although Mike Brady and Zak Schirm had to break a sweat to do so, they pulled out the wins, showing they could adjust their games when necessary. The pair came together to win the No. 2 doubles 6-2, 6-1 over Palm Harbor University's team of Peter Barr and Kevin Rood.
St. Petersburg No. 1 Shea Wali, breezed through his bracket to meet PHU's Stephen Segura, the second seeded player, and beat him in the final, 6-1, 6-0. Nick Galluer (No. 2) and Satyan Sreenath (No. 5) also won their singles finals with ease. Wali and Galluer teamed to win the No. 1 doubles 6-0, 6-1 over PHU's Geoff Gilchrist and Luke Bodine, who had played to two tie-breakers to advance to finals.
The Green Devils led with 21 points and the Hurricanes finished second with 11.
After winning his doubles final, Brady seemed a little surprised to find out his team had won everything.
"I don't want to get it in our minds that we are really good," Brady said. "I just take it one match at a time."
A-9: Chargers sweep
Shorecrest swept the A-9 tournament at St. Petersburg Racquet Club to win a consecutive district title.
Chargers' No. 1 singles player Jonathan Bonner had the biggest test of the day with Admiral Farragut's Gregory LeCompte. Bonner defeated LeCompte 7-5, 6-3. It was the most games won in a match by a Chargers' opponent.
Shorecrest moves on to face St. Stephens Academy in the region tournament Friday.
Christian Yepes, Brett Apter, Cain Soltoff and Michael Kopelman also won for Shorecrest.
The Blue Jackets finished second, their best showing at a district tournament.
3A-10: Cougars win
One point separated Largo from the district title - one point which Countryside claimed to advance to the region tournament.
Cougars' coach Art Kohlmann credits alternate Philipe Gomes, who won an early match at the No. 2 singles spot, with the winning point. Countryside took both the No. 1 singles final with Kevin Kunnen defeating Tarpon Springs' Ronnie Lopez and the No. 1 doubles with Kunnen and Scott Hungerford teamed up to beat Dunedin's Justin Heidmann and Cristian Ionescu 6-2, 6-4.
Countryside hosts Hillsborough Friday in the region tournament.
