Green Devils erase bad memory with title

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published April 20, 2005

Junior Kaitlin Holdstein still can remember last year's district tournament, and the disappointment when her St. Petersburg team lost by a point.

The Green Devils let it slip away in doubles, a bitter defeat burned into their minds.

The memory was put to rest Tuesday. This tourney was over before the doubles matches were even played, as the Green Devils didn't drop a set to win all five singles championships and the title with 21 points.

"It was good to get it over with in singles instead of what happened last year," Holdstein said.

The boys also wrapped up the crown in singles, winning four of the five championships and giving both unbeaten Green Devil teams the sweep.

The girls started with a one-point advantage over Palm Harbor, but the Hurricanes and Green Devils were pitted against each other in Nos. 3-5 singles, giving them a chance. But Ashley Hood won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3, and Gabreille Thompson coasted to a 6-1, 6-2 victory in No. 5 singles to all but clinch the win. It took Holdstein to make it official. She trailed 3-0 in the second game but charged back to post a 6-3, 6-4 victory, making the doubles matches inconsequential.

"That was something we talked about, not to let the same thing happen this year that happened last year," coach Alan Turnquist said. At No. 1 singles, St. Petersburg's Lindsay Dvorak made short work of East Lake's Tara Vafadori, who was coming off an upset of Seminole's Amanda Yogus but had little to slow down a 6-0, 6-0 loss. Caitlein Jammo was a 6-3, 6-0 winner at No. 2 singles.

The Green Devil boys were tied with Pinellas Park starting Tuesday, but the Patriots could manage only a point by Moses Numa, who rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles. At No. 1, Nicholas Gallauer dominated East Lake's Geoffrey Gilchrist 6-0, 6-1 to avenge his only loss of the season.

The boys play Sarasota and the girls meet Sarasota Riverview on Friday at St. Petersburg Tennis Center.

CLEARWATER - By the end of their match, Ronnie Lopez and Robert Murzynski could barely walk.

Lopez, Tarpon Springs' No. 1, and Murzynski, Largo's top player, were battling at center court of McMullen Tennis Complex for the boys singles title. It was hot, tempers started flaring and both players were cramping up. In the end, the top-seeded Lopez emerged victorious in three sets. The sophomore claimed his first crown with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win and earned an automatic bid to state, Monday-April 27 in Orlando. Lopez is 13-2. "He's a very consistent player," Lopez said of Murzynski. "I'm going to work on hydrating myself better for the state tournament."

Lopez had severe cramping in the second and third games. Murzynski was inflicted with leg spasm toward the end of the match. "I think it came down to him surviving out there," Murzynski said. "I had a horrible cramp on championship point. But he had a lot of great shots." The match was a contrast in styles. Lopez's powerful serve and precise angle shots were matched nicely by Murzynski's finesse.

"Before the season started, Robert said he wanted to play in the district championship against Ronnie Lopez," Largo coach Mike Pease said. "He got that chance. The win would have been the upset of the tournament, but Robert did great." Countryside's Ashley Hungerford didn't lose a game. She downed Dunedin's Ladina Badraun 6-0, 6-0 to claim the girls singles. Countryside captured the boys and girls titles for the fifth consecutive year. For the second straight season, the Largo boys finished one point behind the Cougars for second. Tarpon Springs was four points behind the Cougar girls to receive the runner-up trophy.

- MEYLA HOOKER, Times staff writer

[Last modified April 20, 2005, 02:56:36]