Denair High tennis head coach Bill Weber has his sights set on a long and prosperous future the Coyote program and he is off to a good start. After Friday's Southern Athletic League tournament, Denair can boast two league winners in the mixed doubles and the boys singles brackets.
Brian Dudley managed to battle his way past the first day of action on Thursday and on Friday morning he secured the top spot in the SAL after winning the championship match for the boys singles match, 6-2 and 6-2.
At the mixed doubles, Delhi High and Denair met in the grand finale. The Coyotes came out victorious after sweeping through the bracket in convincing fashion.
Denair's Abi Wilson and Andrew Knapp bested Delhi's Mayra Covarrubias and Max Bucio, 6-1 and 6-2.
“They played clean, smart and they played well for each other. Andrew could finish and Abi would get points and great pairing for those two overall they helped one another out perfectly,” said Weber.
Wilson and Knapp won the first round 6-0 and 6-0 and their second round match, 6-2 and 6-3.
In the semifinal matchup, the Denair duo took out their opponents 6-1 and 6-1, claiming a seat in the title game.
“Every match was anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, they were snappy,” said Weber.
Dudley had a different route. He had a first round bye and then went on to beat AJ Diaz 6-0 and 6-1 before defeating Nick Van Vliet, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinal bout.
In the championship game on Friday morning, the Coyotes top player handled Jake Van Vuren with a solid win after performing very calmly under an intense situation.
Delhi's top performer for the boys single was Max Bucio, who beat Curtis Walls of Waterford in first round, 6-2 and 6-4, only to lose to Van Vuren in the quarterfinal, 0-6, 4-6.
In the singles girls tournament, Denair's Wilson notched a quarterfinal win 6-1, 6-1, and then lost in the semifinal to Makenna Koslosky of Ripon Christian, 4-6 and 5-7.
Delhi's Mayra Covarrubias defeated Denair's Kaelee Martinez in the opening round, 5-7 and 2-6, and booted the other Coyote.
Covarrubias then lost to Emily Kosky of Waterford in the quarterfinal round, 2-6, 6-4 and 1-6.
For the girls doubles, Clarissa Meza and Denise Gonzalez of Delhi made it the furthest of the bunch, losing in the semifinal to the eventual champions Ripon Christian's number one doubles team, 6-1, 3-6 and 4-6.
Denair's Jasmine Yonan and Crystal Fuentes were the only pair of the Coyotes that made it past the first round, after winning 6-3 and 6-1. They then lost to Clarissa and Denise of Delhi in the quarterfinal, 7-5 and 6-2.
Robert Gonzalez and Paulo Mecadonio were the top performers for Delhi in the boys double bracket. After a first round bye, they picked up a win, 6-3, 3-6 and 6-1 in the quarterfinal then won in the semifinal 6-2 and 6-3.
In the finale, Delhi's Robert and Paulo lost to Ripon Christian's number one boys doubles team.
All three of the boys doubles teams for Denair did not make it past the first round.