Gorman girls roll in tennis regionals

Adam Candee

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 | 8:35 a.m.

If there ever was a novelty in winning the region title for the Bishop Gorman girls tennis team, it has long since passed.

"Winning all the time, nobody (else) likes it," Gaels coach Gordon Hammond said.

In Wednesday's Sunset Region final against Palo Verde, the Gaels had wrapped up a No. 1 seed to the 4A State Championship by the second of three rounds of play. The Gaels held on by a 29-16 final to clinch a date with Galena, the top team from the north, in next week's finals -- not that one could tell from the subdued nature of the Gorman team and its fans.

The state tournament is usually where the true test begins for the Gaels.

"There's always still the challenge," Hammond said.

As usual, the Gaels were paced by the strong doubles play of Catrina and Christian Thompson, as well as solid efforts from Allison Davis and Carrie Schofield.

The twins split to give Gorman two forimdable doubles squads, and those showings in doubles pushed the Gaels to the win on a warm afternoon at Sierra Vista, one of four host sites for the region finals.

"We're very lucky," Hammond said in reference to the Thompsons. "That's so much talent."

In the other half of the girls bracket, Valley earned a state berth and continued its upset run by winning the Sunrise Region title 29-16 over Southeast No. 2 seed Foothill at Coronado. The Vikings, who will face Palo Verde in the first round in Reno, emerged as the No. 2 seed from the Northeast division.

On the boys side, Northwest No. 1 seed Palo Verde put a scare into unbeaten Bonanza, but the Bengals held on for a 24-21 victory at Durango.

Bonanza, the top seed from the Southwest, earned most of its points in singles behind Rishi Daulat, Alec Runyon, and Ernie Domanico. The Panthers struck with the doubles teams of Cameron Parker/Eric Dunnett and Chris Savanapridi/Ian Magid, both going 3-0.

Bonanza willface Galena, the north's top seed, to open play in Reno.

Palo Verde earned a trip the state tournament, where it will face Silverado in the first round. The top seed from the Southeast division, the Skyhawks overwhelmed Southeast No. 2 seed Green Valley 31-14.