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November 14, 2009

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Palo Verde senior aces tournament

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Richard Brian

Palo Verde senior Brandon Parker returns a ball during a match against the Meadows’ Ryan Wells on Oct. 2.

By Sean Ammerman (contact)

Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 | midnight

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Richard Brian

Palo Verde senior Brandon Parker returns a ball during a match against the Meadows' Ryan Wells on Oct. 2.

Palo Verde senior Brandon Parker put his explosive serve to good use in winning the high school singles tennis championship on Saturday in Carson City.

Parker can hit up to 115-mph serves while playing in Southern Nevada, but said he was approaching speeds of 130 mph at the higher elevation in Northern Nevada.

"I felt much more comfortable up there," said Parker, who won the state doubles title as a freshman and sophomore. "I never had a problem holding my serve, so I was able to concentrate on the rest of my game."

Parker beat Reno High's Jeff Mullen 6-3, 7-5 in a championship.

The 6-foot-2 Parker, who normally towers over his opponents, faced a new challenge in the 6-foot-8 Mullen.

The finals were decided by who could break the other's serve first.

Parker didn't lose a single point and broke Mullen's serve once in each set.

"You have to play perfect on your serves and take advantage of the opportunity when your opponent makes a mistake," he said. "It was a great feeling to win in a battle of great servers."

In the state semifinals. Parker beat defending champion Evan Song of Green Valley High 7-5, 6-3.

"It didn't really hit me until a while after that this was my last time playing high school tennis," Parker said. "It was awesome to go out with a win."

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

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