Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Instant Classic: East outlasts Boyd for 10-5A semifinal win, likely regional spot
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
McKinney Boyd's Franki Jecker looked at her partner in the third set of their No. 1 girls doubles match Tuesday against Plano East and said, "every point counts, every point counts."
And it did.
The full slate of 19 matches had to be completed and two separate sites had to be used before a winner was decided in the District 10-5A Tennis Tournament Semifinal. That winner would be East, which all but clinched a return to regionals for the first time since 2003 with the 10-9 victory.
The momentum swayed back and forth all day.
East held the early 3-1 lead in doubles thanks to straight-set wins by Brendan Hopper/Miles Lee (No. 2 boys), Vishal Menon/Varun Srinivasan (No. 3 boys) and Sharon Heber/Alison Vo (No. 3 girls) while Boyd countered with a two-set victory from Gunner Robison/Braden Lowes (No. 1 boys).
But the three-set doubles matches belonged to the Broncos.
Boyd moved a point closer with Flynn Robison/Remington Rosene winning at No. 2 girls (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) and then tied the match with a victory by the mixed duo of John Henk/Lauren Nakhleh (6-3, 7-6, 6-2).
"I'm so proud of you guys," said Kristen Crawford, Boyd head coach, after the match, to which Nakhleh deeply exhaled and said, "those last four games were so exciting."
The excitement continued as the majority of players, parents, fans at East gathered around the No. 1 girls court to watch East's Ashwini Kulkarni/Agata Jakubowska take on Boyd's Jecker and Morgan Nix. Not only was a third-set necessary there, but so was a tiebreaker with ties at 1, 2, 3, 4 before the Broncos reeled off three straight points for a 7-4 win with the finish coming on a smash by Jecker.
"That was epic," Jecker said. "I haven't played a doubles match like that in a long time."
East doesn't have lights for its courts so with Boyd in front, 4-3, and the race to 10 fully engaged, the match moved to Collin College.
The momentum continued to vacillate at the new venue.
The Broncos won two of the first three singles matches completed to hold a 6-4 lead, but the Panthers fired back with a run to take a 9-7 advantage thanks to three-set victories from Menon at No. 1 boys (7-5, 3-6, 7-5) and Srinivasan at No. 3 boys (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) as well as sweeps by Eric Hong (No. 4 boys), Hopper (No. 5 boys), Lee (No. 6 boys) and Jakubowska (No. 2 girls). Allen noted the triumphs by Menon, Srinivasan and Jakubowska as all being, "huge."
But as had been the case all day, the Broncos battled back.
Nix (No. 1 girls), Nakhleh (No. 5 girls) and Kelsey Kaiser (No. 6 girls) swept their matches for the Broncos with the team then tying the overall match score, 9-9, thanks to three-set wins by Lowes at No. 2 boys (6-7, 6-1, 7-6) and Rosene at No. 4 girls (4-6, 7-5, 6-3).
That meant the likely regional berth hinged on the No. 3 girls match between Jecker and East's Ryana Patel.
Patel dropped the opener to put Boyd one set from victory, but with a captivated Collin College crowd, Patel surged back to win the next two sets (7-5, 6-3) and give the Panthers a 10-9 match victory.
"Coming back from down 4-3 in doubles, including losing all three third-set doubles matches," Allen said, "and then going up 9-7 only to watch Boyd tie it at 9-9, with just No. 3 girls singles remaining and they were in the third set ... this was truly great drama. It was so close and could've easily gone either way.
"And then, of course, I have to talk about Ryana Patel, who came back from a set down to win the clincher. Unbelievable."
The win advanced East to Wednesday's District 10-5A Championship against Plano West (results not available at press time). The winner automatically qualifies for the Region II Tournament, which is Oct. 26-27 in Tyler.
At the same time East faced West, Boyd played Allen in the third-place match.
The Panthers were no doubt rooting the Broncos on as a victory by Boyd would make a playback unnecessary and cement the Panthers' spot at regionals. The only way East won't advance to Tyler is if Allen beats Boyd and then East in a playback match; a tall task considering the Eagles have already lost to both teams this season.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Plano East «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
