By KEVIN NARRO and STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writers
The Harlingen South and Harlingen High tennis season came to a close at the Region IV-6A meet earlier this week at the McFarlin Tennis Center in San Antonio.
In boys singles, South’s Adrian Mungia defeated San Antonio O’Connor 6-4, 6-1. Mungia lost in the semis to Austin Westlake’s Daniel French 7-5, 6-1, and then in a third-place match against Anmay Devaraj of Austin Lake Travis.
In Class 5A boys singles, Donna High’s Arnold Sauceda was knocked out in the first round, 6-0, 6-0, by finalist Ethan Evans of Boerne-Champion. Evans lost to Harlan’s Landon Skrobarcek 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Edcouch-Elsa’s Francisco Lara was eliminated in the first round by Palmview’s Brian Galvan, 6-1, 6-1.
Harlingen South’s Valeria Montero represented the Lady Hawks in girls singles. Montero bowed out in the first round to San Antonio Clark’s Taylor Nichols 6-3, 7-6 (5), and Los Fresnos’ Kayla Ortiz lost to Laredo Alexander’s Lizandra Moreno 6-1, 6-0.
In 5A girls singles, Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Annette Lira lost to Austin LBJ’s Crystal Zhou 6-1, 6-0 in the first round. Zhou defeated Sharyland High’s Andrea Fernandez in the second round, 6-1, 6-1, before her run came to an end in the final at the hands of champion Val Navarro of Burbank 7-5, 6-4.
Edcouch-Elsa’s Giovanna Gonzalez lost to Denise Navarro of Tuloso-Midway 6-0, 6-1 during the first round.
In boys doubles, Harlingen South’s Billy Yepell and Chris Rayner defeated San Antonio Churchill’s Jase Wild and Marcus Torres 7-5, 6-2. McAllen Memorial’s Noah Romero and Agustin Salazar defeated Harlingen High’s Dalton Mann and Luke Alvarado, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.
After clinching a spot in the semis, Yepell and Rayner were beaten by Austin’s Owen Puckett and Oliver Johnson. Yepell and Rayner did, however, take the third-place match with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 win over San Antonio Johnson’s Mariano Reynoso and Millan Fernandes.
In 5A boys doubles, Julio Salinas and Victor Wilson of Edcouch-Elsa were eliminated by Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial’s Jacob Breedlove and Knate Merrill in the first round, 7-6 (3),7-5.
Donna High’s pairing of Isaias Gonzalez and Joe Alvarado were bounced in the first round 6-0, 6-0, by Will Gretzinger and Jeffrey Walker of Dripping Springs. The Dripping Springs duo lost in the final round to boys doubles champions Sam Snelgrove and Colson Schiek of Kerrville Tivy, 4-6,6-2,7-6(4).
In girls doubles, Autumn Turrubiates and Kennedy Kibler of Harlingen South defeated Weslaco East’s Daniela Guerra and Andrea Cruz, 6-3,6-2. Brownsville Hanna’s Sophia Deleon and Desirae Diaz defeated Edinburg North’s Larissa Mercado and Izabella Saenz.
Hanna and South lost in the quarterfinal round.
In 5A girls doubles, Porter’s Yuliana Mendez and Guadalupe Suarez were defeated in the first round by Madaline King and Kassandra Lerma of Mission Veterans Memorial, 7-5, 6-1.
The Lady Chargers’ duo of Issayana Gavino and Isabella Vasquez were beaten 6-2,6-2 by Harlan’s Rachel Rosser and Victoria Gehrmann in their first-round matchup.
Sharyland High’s Carel Castillo and Arianna Gutierrez exited in the first round after losing to Corpus Christi Calallen’s Allison Cardoshinsky and Julia Landivar 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
In mixed doubles, Harlingen South’s Mason Tice and Kara Lemarr defeated San Antonio Reagan’s Jeffery Xia and Maansi Shah, 6-1, 6-4. South’s William Bell and Kelley Yeupell lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to Edinburg Vela’s Ashton Alvarado and Mia Arevalo.
Tice and Lemarr later lost 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals to Austin Westlake’s Jett Wright and Keegan McCain.
In 5A mixed doubles, the Brownsville Veterans team of Jose Garza and Ana Paula Sanchez lost in the first round to Robert Hunt and Kendall Hunt of Alamo Heights, which won 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the third-place match over Emma Moon and George Webster of Corpus Christi Ray.
Max Schechter and Blair Drought-Villarreal, also of Alamo Heights, topped Edcouch-Elsa’s Brian Roel and Karla DeLeon 6-4, 6-1 in first-round action.