JOURNAL SPORTS
MONROE – Caddo Magnet sophomore Jai Koticha is the only local player to advance past the quarterfinals of the LHSAA Division I and II state tennis tournament and into today’s Division II state semifinals at ULM.
Koticha won all three of his matches Thursday with his 6-0, 6-0 defeat of St. Thomas More’s Matthew Bailey in the quarterfinals sending him to the semifinals. He started the day with a similar 6-0, 6-0 defeat of Rummel’s Miguel Gamez in the first round. It took three sets to defeat Zachary Alevizon of Vandebilt Catholic in the second round, 6-0, 4-6, 1-0. He will face Mitchell Spence of Neville today in the semifinals with a chance to play for a state championship.
Natalie Sin of Caddo Magnet advanced to the Division II quarterfinals before falling to My-Linh Holmes of The Willow, 3-6, 6-2, 1-0.
In Division I, Airline’s Drew Kolniak was the only local to get past the second round. Kolniak defated McCord Foster of Southside in the first round 6-2, 6-0 and downed Camden Pichon of Slidell 6-2, 6-2 in round two. Cameron Rice from Barbe bounced Kolniak in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-2.
Local Day 1 results from the LHSAA state tennis tournament held in Monroe:
Division I
BOYS
Singles –
First round
Drew Kolniak, Airline def. McCord Foster, Southside, 6-2, 6-0
Evan Patton, Lafayette d. Judson Bradford, Benton, 6-0, 6-0
Andrew Delello, Southside d. Kooch Sawrie, Airline 6-1, 6-0
Reece Beckendorf, St. Paul’s d. Case Mooney, Benton 6-1, 6-0
Second round
D. Kolniak, Airline d. Camden Pichon, Slidell 6-2, 6-2
Quarterfinals
Cameron Rice, Barbe d. Kolniak, Airline 6-2, 6-2
Doubles –
NONE
GIRLS
Singles –
First round
Mary Allen, Byrd d. Sophia Lewis, Fontainebleau, 6-3, 7-5
Ella Mancuso, St. Joseph’s d. Mallory Benton, Haughton 6-0, 6-0
Christlyn Ross, Benton def. Maggie Cheng, Baton Rouge, 6-0, 6-2
Sophie Ellison, Mt. Carnel d. Sophia McFarlain, Captain Shreve, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0
Natalie Devraj, Mandeville d. Ava Washington, Airline, 6-0, 6-0
Second round
Morgan Duncan, Walker d. Allen, Byrd 6-0, 6-1
Brayce Reynolds, St. Amant d. Ross, Benton 6-2, 6-1
Doubles –
First round
Hannah Howard-Avery Young, Byrd, d. Madeleine Thorne-Ruby Krupp, Mt. Carmel, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0
Allie Bordelon-Avery Hebert, Lafayette d. Lia Vergis-Aubrey Weir, Benton, 6-1, 6-1
Second round
A’Maya Freeman-Sofia Charles, Dominican d. Howard-Young, Byrd 6-0, 6-3
Division II
BOYS
Singles –
First round
Jai Koticha, Caddo Magnet d. Miguel Gamez, Rummel, 6-0; 6-0
George Gibson, The Willow d. Armaan Jyoti, Caddo Magnet, 6-0, 6-0
Second round
Koticha, Caddo Magnet d. Zachary Alevizon, Vandebilt Catholic, 6-0, 4-6, 1-0
Quarterfinals
Koticha, Caddo Magnet d. Matthew Bailey, St. Thomas More, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles –
First round
Ethan Bailey-Adam Bonin, St. Thomas More d. Marshall O’Callaghan-Alexander Walker, Caddo Magnet 6-3, 5-7, 1-0
Alston Zhang-Logan Tais, Caddo Magnet d. Conor Moore-Isaac Palmer, The Willow, 6-4, 6-4
Second round
Will Gesser-John David McCrory, St. Thomas More d. Zhang-Tais, Caddo Magnet 6-0, 6-0
GIRLS
Singles –
First round
Natalie Sin, Caddo Magnet d. Emma Vezina, Hannan 6-0, 6-0
Lina Mills-Zacapa, Leesville d. Evelyn Bamburg, Bossier 6-0, 6-1
Lyleigh Schwartz, Hannan d. Aashni Shah, Caddo Magnet 6-0, 6-0
Second round
Sin, Caddo Magnet d. Nikki Normand, St. Michael 6-0, 6-0
Quarterfinals
My-Linh Holmes, The Willow d. Sin, Caddo Magnet 3-6, 6-2, 1-0
Doubles –
First round
Presley Myers-Vines-Olivia Shirley, DeRidder d. Melody Zamani-Caya Cate, Caddo Magnet 6-2, 6-3
Katherine Bilbro-Abigail Hunter, The Willow d. Phoenix Voumard-Vivian Vekovius, Caddo Magnet 6-0, 6-3
Claire Cancienne-Avery Lewis, Hannan d. Kathryn Myers-Soren Cate, Caddo Magnet 6-0, 6-1