Gerard Baisch, a United States Tennis Association official, had some glowing remarks about the recent 3A girls tennis tournament.

"That," he said, "was some of the best high school tennis I've seen in a long time."

The state's third-largest classification is arguably one of the best, which makes Juan Diego's sweep of all three singles at this year's 3A state championship all the more impressive.

Romina Nedakovic, Paige Miles and Masha Chadovic led the Soaring Eagle to their first championship since moving up to 3A. Juan Diego should be in contention for a repeat next year.

"I definitely think we'll be in the running," said Juan Diego coach Arthur Miyazaki. "Looking at who everyone has coming back next year, we believe we'll be one of the top three or four teams."

Juan Diego loses two seniors, four-time state champion Romina Nedakovic and first doubles player Shoko Kim. Second and third singles champs Miles and Chadovic are both back, as well as junior Rachel Claudius, Julia Love, and freshmen Blake Holding and Justine Davis.

"Paige will replace Romina, Masha will move up to second singles, Rachel will probably play third, and then we'll have to figure out who's going to play doubles," Miyazaki said.

Replacing an undefeated senior is no small task, but having a three-time state champion like Miles makes Miyazaki's job a whole lot easier.

"Paige is by far one of the best in the state," he said. "She could've played first singles at almost any school this year."

Miles, who's also undefeated in three years of competition, lost just one game en route to her third-straight championship and now has her sights set on 3A's top singles players.

"I'm excited," she said. "It's going to be hard to live up to what Romina has done, but it'll be good to have some more competition."

Miyazaki also expects considerable improvement from Chadovic.

"She will be one of the favorites in second singles," he said. "She's only a sophomore, so we hope for great improvement as she gets stronger and faster."

Juan Diego edged state runner-up Ogden by just three points after Nedakovic beat Tiger Tori Arneson in the final. With less depth in singles, the Soaring Eagle may need more production out of their doubles teams next year to compete for another team championship.

"We have to have a doubles team," Miyazaki said. "Park City brings back a lot of depth in singles, but Masha (Chadovic) can be a force, too. We hope for good things."