Panthers move past Gaels in tennis regionals

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Home News

Palo Verde’s Josh Levinson hits cross court in mid-air while playing Friday with doubles partner Dillon Berkabile against Bishop Gorman’s Alec Thomas and Kyle Del Rosario.

By Sean Ammerman (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 | 8:03 p.m.

Palo Verde boys' tennis coach Zach Brandt didn't just want his team to beat Bishop Gorman in the Sunset Region semifinals Tuesday, he wanted to send a message. And with a 15-3 victory, two-time defending state champs Palo Verde's message was clear: it has improved on last year's championship team.

"I think this may be the best team I have coached here," Brandt said. "We have a lot of seniors and going up through the years, they have gotten a lot of experience in big matches."

Palo Verde will face Bonanza on Friday at the Darling Tennis Center for the Sunset Region championship and a berth in the state team tournament. Bonanza beat Centennial 12-6 in the other Sunset Region semifinal game Tuesday. Friday's match will feature two undefeated teams in a replay of last year's finals.

"Bonanza is definitely going to be the toughest team to compete with, but I think we're tougher," said Palo Verde's Dillon Berkabile, who went 3-0 against the Gaels with doubles partner Josh Levinson.

Palo Verde's greatest strength may be its singles squad of Brandon Parker, Fernando Sunago and Stan Breland, who have not dropped a set all season.

The trio easily took care of Bishop Gorman, each going 3-0.

Parker was nearly flawless on the day, going 6-0, 6-0 and 6-1 in his sets.

The closest Gorman came to garnering a singles point was when Andrew Raphaelson took an early lead against Breland. Breland, who lost to Green Valley's Evan Song in last year's state singles finals, battled back to a 6-3 victory through the strength of his serve.

"I have matured mentally and physically since last year," Breland said. "I want to try to take this state title not only as a team, but individually, too. It will be nice to see all the work pay off."

The Gaels did not win a set until the second round of play, when its No. 1 doubles team of Alec Thomas and Kyle Del Rosario defeated Palo Verde's Zach Bella and Jeremy Mann. Even then, it took a 7-3 win in a tiebreaker to get the set.

Thomas and Del Rosario also beat Palo Verde's David Nichols and Kaman Jackson in the third round to go 2-1 on the day.

"The depth of a team like Palo Verde is unbelievable," Thomas said. "Individual competitions are coming up and to be able to prove yourself as a legitimate contender is important."

Nichols and Kaman went 2-1 for Palo Verde while Bella and Mann went 1-2 on the day.

Gorman's No. 2 doubles team of Diego Guiterrez and Ryan Hidajat beat Bella and Mann 6-4 in the third round to give the Gaels their final point of the day.

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or sean.ammerman@hbcpub.com.