This time, Arasu goes all the way

By DEBI JONES

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2000

GAINESVILLE -- Saras Arasu wanted to make up for last year.

After losing in the state final as a sophomore, Arasu advanced once again, beating Sanela Kunovac of Bradenton Academy on Wednesday afternoon for the Class A state title. "I came into this season keen on trying to win (the state championship)," the junior said. "I just took it one match at a time this year."

Arasu won the individual title after Kunovac defaulted due to a wrist injury. They played only one point.

The Terp's real test came in her overall final, where she defeated Kelly Nelson of Shorecrest 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

"We were very evenly matched, so we played pretty consistently," Arasu said. "But I just tried to move her around because I knew she had a few long matches today."

While she knew she had a good chance coming into the tournament, Arasu said she was a little surprised at the victory. Surrounded by parents and friends, she laughed when talking about defending her title.

"I guess I am going to be keen on defending my title next year," she said.

4A: Cowboy junior falls in semifinals

Two weeks ago, Gaither's Liz Rodgers never had advanced past the district tournament. Wednesday at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, she found herself one step away from the state final.

Unfortunately for Rodgers, that was as close as she got this year. Pemborke Pines Flanagan's Nathalia Collantes stepped up and stopped the Gaither junior with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the individual singles semifinals.

Collantes used the momentum gained from her win over Rodgers to roll to the state title in a match later in the day. -- TIMES STAFF

3A: King's Tien, Chamberlain pair fall

LAKELAND -- King's Caroline Tien had been here before, Chamberlain's Carl Fisher and Patrick Glowacki hadn't.

It didn't matter as none of them were able to solve the puzzle that is the state championships or the talent in their respective brackets at Veteran's Park.

Tien, who won the state title two years ago as a sophomore, was ousted 6-2, 6-3 in her semifinal match by Nova's Roberta Spencer. Spencer later ran her record to 20-0 and won the state tile by beating Boca Ciega's Tiffany Kalvoda. Fisher and Glowacki were making their first appearance at state and a small case of nervousness got the best of them.

They ran into the Gainesville duo of Leo Gomes and Nathan Fabrick, who ran all the way to the state title with an overpowering 6-2, 6-0 victory. To make matters worse, Gomes knocked Fisher out of contention for the individual singles title Tuesday.

"We just made a lot of unforced errors," Fisher said. "I think nerves had a little to do with it. This was the first time for both of us here and we had all the excitement of being here."

If it wasn't strong Gomes and Fabrick groundstrokes, it was near-perfect accuracy dooming the Chiefs doubles squad. Several Hurricane groundstrokes flew awkwardly off Fisher's and Glowacki's rackets and the shots they couldn't reach fell just inside the baseline or sideline.

"The score could have been closer but they were definitely better today," said Fisher, who is completing his first year of high school tennis. "Next year we're definitely coming back."

The news wasn't much much better for a pair of Pinellas County entries.

Besides Kalvoda's singles loss to Spencer, Seminole's doubles team of Nicole Cercone and Erin Heeder lost in the individual doubles final to Coral Reef's Stephanie Chizzini and Marsha Malinow 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. -- MIKE READLING

2A: Jesuit's DeHeart to play for crown

JACKSONVILLE -- Only one thing stood in the way of Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons gaining a sweep -- Jesuit's Ryler DeHeart.

And while the DeHeart's victory at No. 1 singles did nothing to stop the Redskins' onslaught, it did give the Tigers a moral victory of sorts against the winner of the last five state championships.

The Redskins went on to claim their sixth consecutive title in the boys competition but will be denied the chance to secure one of the gems of this tournament -- the individual singles championship, which will be settled when DeHeart squares off with Miami Gulliver Prep's David Goldman at 8 a.m. today.

"Every time we come here we seem to get second and every time it's mixed emotions for me," Tigers coach Joe Curtis said. "First of all, we know how great second is because, basically, we think if we were in any other classification we could win. But (Cardinal Gibbons) is going to dominate any classification. This team is as good as anyone in the country."

The Tigers, buoyed by DeHeart's singles win and a semifinal win in doubles by DeHeart and Tyler Ralph, finished as the runners-up for the fifth consecutive year. But the big story was DeHeart's impressive win at No. 1 over a seemingly overpowering opponent in Cardinal Gibbon's Rajevac Vok.

DeHeart was unfazed by Vok's overpowering serve and aggressive ground strokes and used a superior mental game and consistency to wear him down. They traded service games throughout the first set, but DeHeart gained a one-set advantage with a 7-2 win in the tiebreaker. DeHeart broke Vok midway through the second set and hung on for a 6-4 win.

"I was just trying to get (the ball) back, get it low and keep it at his feet and just hold my serve," DeHeart said. "We were holding our serve through the first set and then I won the tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, I got a few lucky shots and I won. He got a little mad after the first set and I think that worked to my favor."

Hillsborough was also well represented in the doubles competition. DeHeart and Ralph made it to the No. 1 finals, but bowed out in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Vok and Jason Englehardt. Meanwhile, the Tampa Catholic tandem of Miranda Gutierrez and Lorielle Ferlita made it to the semifinals of the girls individual doubles tournament with a hard-fought 6-2, 6-7 (7-2), 6-3 win over Gulliver Prep's Ashley Retleb and Barclay Gang, but lost in straight sets in the semifinals. -- CAREY FREEMAN

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