St. Petersburg's No. 1 doubles' trip home was delayed. But it wasn't tennis that kept them in Altamonte Springs at the Class 4A state tournament; it was a few light sprinkles.
Shay Wali and Nick Gallauer of the Green Devils lost an early morning semifinals doubles match 6-4, 6-4 to Maimi Jackson's Yannick Jackson and Clifford Malivert. One break in each set was all it took to oust the Green Devils out at Sanlando Park on Tuesday. They started playing at 8 a.m. and after a half hour, there was a short intermission until the clouds cleared.
Coach Alan Turnquist said the boys took the loss hard. Wali especially had hoped to bring home a state title like his brother Alamgir did last year, Turnquist said. Gallauer, who worked his way up from last year's No. 7 player to the team's No. 2 player, vowed to improve more next season.
Shorecrest still playing
Shorecrest's boys doubles team waited the whole day and never played. The girls did play, advancing to today's semifinals of the Class A state tournament in Tallahassee.
Jonathan Bonner and Christian Yepes were scheduled to play Pensacola Catholic's Jeffery Blackman and Jeremy Schultz, but Blackman was occupied late into the afternoon in a drawn-out singles match which he lost in three sets. Since he lost, the team took advantage of the option to play the doubles match today.
Morgan Basil and Lauren Saltiel won their first match 6-3, 6-0 over Quincy Monroe's Mandy and Jessica Clark and play in the semifinals today.
In singles, Bonner lost to tournament No. 1 seed Sykut Maciek of Marathon 6-0, 6-1. Basil lost 6-3, 6-0 to tournament No. 2 seed Jessica Preeg of Naples Community School. Shorecrest coach Elaine East said the scores were deceiving; both matches lasted nearly two hours.
