High school tennis: Lone Peak, Skyline share 5A lead

Day one of the 5A girls state tennis tournament at Liberty Park was nothing out of the ordinary, just teams playing to secure championship day spots.

Lone Peak and Skyline lead the pack with eight points each, but the Eagles hold a slight advantage with four players locked into championship day — Lone Peak only has three.

Living up to the hype in true fashion, Weber's Mary Anne Macfarlane swept through her first two matches of the tournament. The defending champ will have her skills tested in semifinal play, where she's set up to clash with Cottonwoods McKenzie Davis; last year's 4A first singles champ.

"She's a really great competitor," said Macfarlane. "I am just going to play my game, focus and compete."

Ashley Tanner from Alta, last year's runner-up, was put in a tight spot early when Hunter's Nittaya Phonharath forced a third set in their quarterfinal match. After a few mistakes, Tanner capitalized on a weary Phonharath to pick up the 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 victory.

The Macfarlane vs. Davies game should be the match of the morning, with the winner most likely to be crowned at the end of the day.

In second singles, Alyssa Evenson played fantastic tennis in her first two matches. The second-place finisher from last year has a tough match against Weber's Carly Lloyd, but a win would secure a title hungry Evenson a spot in the title game.

The top bracket of second singles features Lone Peak's Mindy Wong facing Kimberly Watts from Cottonwood. With their respective teams in the top three thus far, a win would be a key factor on the road for the team title.

Third singles is led by Alta's Alexis Nielsen. A big match against Skyline freshman Erin Blessing is going to be a real test for the senior. Bingham's Jessica Davidson was able to outlast Davis' Chelsey Hanni in the three set match. Davidson was able to tire her opponent with a mix of volleys and slams that kept Hanni on her toes. Davidson will play Cottonwood freshman Katie Sweet first thing Saturday morning. Sweet will be playing top notch tennis in order to give her team the needed points to win.

Like most tennis tournaments, the deciding factor for this year's team title should come down to first and second doubles play. Skyline and Lone Peak have teams in both brackets, and neither would have to play each other unless they made it to the championship match. Viewmont also has girls in both bracket, and both teams are matched up against Skyline in semifinal play. If the Vikings can play controlled/aggressive tennis, they have a chance to really shake things up.

Championship play resumes Saturday at Liberty Park beginning at 9 a.m.

e-mail: cjohnson@desnews.com