Shorecrest won't be returning with any state titles. Instead, the Chargers are bringing back little more experience for the future from the Class A state tournament.
Both the girls and boys doubles teams lost Wednesday at Florida State University's Scott Speicher Tennis Center in Tallahasee.
Morgan Basil and Lauren Saltiel may have been a little psyched out for their semifinals doubles match against Miami Country Day's Christine Clermont and Casey Herzberg. Before playing, they watched Clermont win the individual singles title. Coach Elaine East said the Chargers' girls played flat, serving up unforced error after unforced error and losing 6-1, 6-3.
Jonathan Bonner and Christian Yepes finally got to play their doubles quarterfinal match, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday. Bonner and Yepes lost the first set 6-3 to Pensacola Catholic's Geoffrey Blackmon and Jeremy Schults. Down 5-2 in the second set, the Chargers battled back to force a tie-breaker, which Pensacola Catholic won 9-7.
"They figured out how to play those guys," East said about the second set, but the team was too strong to overpower.
Bonner, a junior, will have a chance to come back next season. Yepes is one of three seniors on this years' Chargers' team which went undefeated in the regular season. Yepes will play tennis at the University of Central Florida.
Basil, a 12-year-old sixth grader, showed she'll probably make at least a few more appearances at the state tourney and paired with Saltiel, just a sophomore, the Chargers' doubles team could be dominant for a while.
"I'll guarantee our kids will be back at state next year," East said.
3A: Countryside was having a rough go of it in the Class 3A individuals state tournament at Altamonte Springs, with Kevin Kunnen and Ashley Hungerford's first-round singles matches already lost, as well as the Kunnen-Scott Hungerford doubles match.
"So we're getting some sun, taking a day off," Countryside coach Art Kohlmann joked.
Then, a spark of hope. Ashley Hungerford and Christina Vales entered the doubles quarterfinals and were winning.
They outworked their opponents, Candice Eisennan and Katrina Eronin from Sebastien River, 6-2, 6-0, keeping Countryside's name alive for one more day at the tournament.
"This is exciting," Vales said. "We're prepared and ready (for the semifinals). We're going to do it and love it."
Hungerford drew second-seeded Holly Johnson of Tallahassee Leon for a tough singles quarterfinal (6-4, 6-3), but was thrilled to have a bit of a break in doubles. "We thought we were going to have trouble against them," she said.
Kunnen was a highly-ranked tennis player when he was younger, but quit the tennis scene years ago. The grandson of the late tennis icon of the 1950s, Laura Lou Kunnen, picked it back up recently to be Countryside's top player. He couldn't get past his first-round opponent, nationally-ranked Jeff D'Adamo of Plant, and lost 6-1, 6-0.
"I beat him before in juniors, but I guess since I've quit, he's gotten a lot better than be," Kunnen said.
He also struggled to find success at doubles, as he and Scott Hungerford dropped their doubles match 6-1, 6-2.
- Staff writer Emily Nipps contributed to this report
