High school tennis: Thunder out, Judge now favored in 3A

PROVO — One thing is certain after the first two rounds of the 3A state tennis tournament Saturday at BYU. There is going to be a new state champion.

Desert Hills has been unstoppable over the past three years of the school's existence with three state championships in as many years. But after the Thunder's five first-round matches Saturday, only Felicia Johnson and the doubles team of Sydny Wathan and Jordyn McGinnis advanced to the second round, where they both ultimately lost. That means Desert Hills will have no representation in the semifinals on Monday.

The question is, who will seize the day in the Thunder's absence? After the first two rounds, it appears that Judge Memorial, Snow Canyon, Park City and Dixie have the best chances, with Judge Memorial leading the way.

The Bulldogs won all five of their first-round matches and all five of their second-round matches, going 10-0 on the day. Both Emily Murnin and freshman Whitney Weisberg didn't drop a game in advancing to the second round in the first and second singles brackets.

Snow Canyon battled its way into the second position on the day, advancing to the second round in four of its five matches. That includes what might have been the longest and final match of the day between Snow Canyon's Bergen Nelson and Katelin Christensen of Grantsville. After winning the first set 6-3, Nelson dropped the second 4-6 before closing the match out with a 6-3 win — long after all of the other matches had completed.

Dixie's Cydnee Wilkinson, Janessa Watts, and Kylie Hardin all won their first- and second-round matches in straight sets, which puts the Flyers in the third spot entering Monday's matches.

Park City's Karlson Solveig advanced to the semifinals on Monday along with the doubles teams of Dani Lecher and McKenna Tychsen, and Natalie Frost and Lauren Weed. The latter twosome advanced in a close match with M'Lisa Dixon and Makayla Michelsen of Spanish Fork. Frost and Weed ultimately won 7-5 and 6-4.

Ogden, Juan Diego, Pine View and Spanish Fork all have players and/or doubles teams in the semifinals, which will be held at Timpanogos High School on Monday beginning at 11 a.m.

The wet fall weather wreaked havoc with the schedule over the past several days, as the tournament was supposed to be a Friday-Saturday tournament and has now turned into a Saturday-Monday affair.