TAMPA — With her team’s region final hopes at stake, Academy of the Holy Names star Caroline Lozo made a rare stumble. Luckily for the five-time district champ, Lozo has plenty of depth behind her.
The Jaguars’ bottom three singles players and the No. 2 doubles team all earned easy victories to lead the AHN girls tennis team to a 4-2 win over Sarasota Booker in Wednesday’s Class 2A region semifinal at Hillsborough Community College.
“I’m so proud of my team for pulling it out today,” Lozo said. “I really am.”
Lozo was up 6-1, 5-1 before Janae Wilson’s comeback, which she finished with a 10-8 tiebreaker victory.
But AHN’s Olivia Rivas (No. 3 singles), Grayson Garraty (No. 4) and Maddie Bales (No. 5) combined to drop only three games in their victories. In doubles, Bales and Rivas coasted 8-1 for AHN.
Class 2A boys: Jesuit dominated Sarasota Booker 4-0. Palmer Evans didn’t finish his No. 1 singles match, but it wasn’t necessary. Max Azzarelli (No. 2 singles), Alex Crosby (No. 3), Gantt Meredith (No. 4) and Dean Lontoc (No. 5) dropped only four games between them. “A lot of times our depth shows up in the postseason,” coach Joe Curtis said.
Class A girls: Tampa Prep senior Izabelle Baskette finished a 5-0 sweep of Winter Haven All Saints’ Academy with an overhead smash for the final point of her 6-1, 6-2 victory. No. 1 singles Paige Leavy and Allie Blair (No. 5) both kept their opponents from winning even a game.
Class A boys: Berkeley Prep swept Lakeland Christian 7-0 to advance to a region final for the first time since its fifth-place finish at state in 2010.
Information from the Lakeland Ledger was used in this report.