Cinderella crashed the ball at the NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A state boys tennis championships. It came in the form of the Galena boys tennis team.
Galena pulled off the stunning upset to win the state title, becoming only the second Northern Nevada school ever to accomplish the feat. Reno is the only other Northern Nevada school to win the state title.
The Grizzlies suprised five-time defending state champion Green Valley 16-6 1/2 in the semifinals then upset Bonanza 11 1/2-11 in the finals to win the state crown.
Galena even suprised itself. "We never really thought we had a chance at state," Grizzly Coach Mark Hurst said.
But led by its four seniors - Ryan Thornton and Chris Ferguson-McIntyre and Kevin Tappan and Eric Lissy - Galena was able to pull off the upset against Bonanza. Thornton and Ferguson swept all three of their matches and Tappan and Lissy won two matches. "That was just huge," Hurst said.
With the contest tied going into the final round, both teams came through to win their matches to clinch the title. Both teams also set the tone for the match in the first round.
Thornton and Ferguson beat Green Valley's No. 1 team, which came into the contest unbeaten, 6-3. Tappan and Lissy also won their match 6-2. Tappan and Lissy led 4-2 when Tappan ripped four straight aces for a 5-2 lead and the duo never looked back.
The two doubles teams are still playing and will face each other in today's state boys doubles championships semifinals, guaranteeing at least one Galena doubles team will be playing for a state title.
Galena's top two singles players, Andrew Eklov and Josh Roach also came through as both won two matches against Bonanza. Other players contributing to Galena's state title run were Brad Erger, Jeremy Sawyer, Brad Squelch, Daryl Gasca, Vincent Bettencourt and Ian Robinson.
"This is a real team effort," said Hurst, who commented that his team's depth was a key to its success. "They just put a lot of time in the off season."
Hurst said his four seniors deserved to go out on top. "I'm really happy for these guys."
Hurst said some of the team's toughest matches this year came in practice. "The kids were used to the pressure," Hurst said. "They were unfazed."
Galena cleared one hurdle when it beat three-time defending Northern Nevada champion Reno in the zone semifinals, a team it had lost to the last three years.
The Grizzlies stunned Green Valley by taking a 6- 1/2 lead after the first round. Green Valley then began to tighten up while his team just became looser, Hurst said.
It was a similar case in the finals, although it was still an evenly played match, Hurst said.
"It was some of the best tennis I've seen in recent years," said Hurst about the finals.
In the boys singles quarterfinals, Eklove lost to Palo Verde's Cameron Parker 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 whiel Roach lost to Foothill's Lew DeLeon 3-6, 2-6 in the quarterfinals. In girls singles, Amber Oglesby of Douglas lost to Bonanza's Trisha Piercy in the quarterfinals.
