CHARLESTON — Team depth propelled Morgantown to the Class AAA girls state tennis championship Saturday at the Kanawha City Community Center. The Mohigans entered the final day of competition tied with Cabell Midland atop the standings with 10 points each. MHS qualified at five of the seven positions — including every player to qualify for states between the singles and doubles teams — in the championship round and claimed four titles, eventually edging the Knights 14-13.
Morgantown’s championship was secured when its No. 3 doubles team of Ashalia Aggarwal and Kathryn Regules claimed a straight set victory over Parkersburg. That win gave the Mohigans 13 points, drawing even with Cabell Midland. If needed, the tiebreaker would have gone to MHS by qualifying more entrants in championship matches.
“It was wonderful this year,” Morgantown head coach Ted Greenlee said. “We had so many contributors. We got here and we had one unfortunate loss but everything fell into place. No. 3 and No. 4 singles and our No. 2 doubles combination have been overwhelmingly good all season long. They were undefeated both in singles and doubles.”
Entering championship Saturday tied with Cabell Midland, Greenlee said he didn’t mention the team leaderboard when addressing his squad.
“We just said we are going to go out and play and see what happens. We knew we had more finalists so that made the difference,” he said.
Morgantown earned a 14th point at the No. 2 doubles position. Mackenzie Sorton and Isabella Mascari defeated George Washington in straight sets.
Sorton opened her day by winning the No. 3 singles title 6-0, 6-2 over George Washington’s Jana Zatar. Mascari also claimed a singles championship at the No. 4 position. She defeated Woodrow Wilson’s Elysia Salon 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Sorton claimed a state title at No. 4 singles last year.
“I was really honored and excited to be competing in both the singles and doubles championships for a second year in a row, but I wanted to stay calm and relaxed, and I just wanted to play the way I knew I could,” Sorton said. “It was amazing having all of the support there, and I am so happy I was able to take home the win for both singles and doubles and help the team win states. It was such a bittersweet moment playing with Bella for the last time, and I am so happy that we have been such an amazing team these past four years.
“After both of us being undefeated all year in both singles and doubles, I couldn’t of asked for a better end to our senior year.”
Morgantown’s No. 1 doubles team of Cat Wassick and Emme McKnight took the first set in their championship match against Cabell Midland 6-3. But the Knights duo of Channing Varnum and Hanley Riner rallied to take the second and third sets. That gave CMHS a brief 13-12 lead.
The state championship is the second for the MHS girls, with the other coming in 2015. Morgantown graduates three of its six state tournament qualifiers this spring.
“This was the year we were focusing on. Our No. 1 and 2 players are really strong and they’re going to be back next year.”
The University boys team entered the final day in third place and stayed in that position with nine points. UHS coach Tom McClellan said this is the best finish for the boys at the state tournament.
George Washington won the boys title with 19 points, the 19th championship in school history, while Parkersburg was the runner-up with 12 points.
Andre Barcinas fell to Nadeem Jones of George Washington in No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-2. Jameson Walters lost to Alex Stacy of George Washington 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 4 singles championship.
