FAYETTEVILLE -- Rogers High senior Katherine Tang is in the hunt for a different 7A-West Conference tennis championship.
As a freshman and sophomore, Tang teamed with her older sister, Tiffany, to win conference, state and Overall doubles championships. Tang did not play as a junior, but the senior returned this postseason in singles competition and she is two wins away from a conference title.
7A-West Conference Tennis Tournament
Girls
Team Standings
Bentonville^7
Rogers High^7
Fayetteville^5
Fort Smith Southside^2
Fort Smith Northside^2
Rogers Heritage^1
Singles
First Round
No. 1 seed Adriana Canigova, Bentonville, def. No. 16 seed Lorena Delahoya, Springdale High, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 2 seed Katherine Tang, Rogers High, def. No. 15 seed Iiliana Mendez, Springdale High, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 3 seed Cam Cupelli, Fayetteville, def. Jessie Maynard, Springdale Har-Ber, 6-1, 6-2.
No. 4 seed Shreya Majagi, Rogers High, def. Lilly Matayo, Springdale Har-Ber, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 5 seed Jessica Geren, Fort Smith Northside, def. Sara Weibe, Fayetteville, 6-1, 6-1.
No. 6 seed Kruti Shah, Bentonville, def. Kassidy Killough, Fort Smith Northside, 6-0, 6-2.
No. 7 seed Kelly Torres, Rogers Heritage, def. Stephanie Meador, Fort Smith Southside,
No. 8 seed Abby Barr, Fort Smith Southside, def. Radhika Katke, Rogers Heritage, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).
Second Round
Canigova, Bentonville, def. Barr, Southside, 6-0, 6-1.
Tang, Rogers High, def. Torres, Rogers Heritage, 6-3, 6-2.
Majagi, Rogers High, def. Geren, Fort Smith Northside, 6-1, 6-1.
Cupelli, Fayetteville, def. Shah, Bentonville, 6-4, 6-4.
Doubles
First Round
No. 1 seed Hargrove/Gean, Bentonville, def. Ray/Davis, Fort Smith Northside, 6-0, 6-1.
No. 2 seed Churchill/Mauromoustakos, Fayetteville, def. Wood/Wilson, Springdale Har-Ber, 6-0, 6-1.
No. 3 seed Sullivan/Cheung-Damonte, Bentonville, def. Nguyen/Norsavanh, Springdale High, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 4 seed Lewis/McKinney, Rogers High, def. Garibaldi/Jamison, Springdale Har-Ber, 6-1, 6-1.
No. 5 seed K. Truitt/Magness, Fort Smith Southside, def. Stribling/Hey, Rogers Heritage, 6-2, 6-1.
No. 6 seed Maass/Matthews, Rogers High, def. A. Truitt/Hunter, Fort Smith Southside, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.
No. 7 seed Coleman/Hug, Fort Smith Northside, def. Butler/Brya, Rogers Heritage, 6-1, 6-4.
No. 8 seed Bain/Rogers, Fayetteville, def. Ruiz/Townsend, Springdale High,6 -2, 6-2.
Second Round
Hargrove/Gean, Bentonville, def. Bain/Rogers, Fayetteville, 6-0, 6-3.
Lewis/McKinney, Rogers, def. K. Truitt/Magness, Fort Smith Southside, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sullivan/Cheung-Damonte, Bentonville, def. Maass/Matthews, Rogers, 6-2, 6-1.
Churchill/Mauromoustakos, Fayetteville def. Coleman/Hug, Northside.
Today
10 a.m.
Singles Semifinals
Canigova vs. Majagi
Cupelli vs. Tang
Doubles Semifinals
Hargrove/Gean vs. Lewis/McKinney
Sullivan/Cheung-Damonte vs. Church/Mauromoustakos
The road will be a tough one for Tang, who is the No. 2 seed.
Tang opened the 7A-West Conference Tournament with an easy 6-0, 6-0 victory over Iiliana Mendez of Springdale High before earning a bid to the state tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kelly Torres of Rogers Heritage. Tang will face Fayetteville's Cam Cupelli in the semifinals today.
Tang made the switch from doubles to singles midway through the season, and Lady Mounties coach Matt Fulton said she is playing her best tennis of the year. Tang was undefeated in singles play during the regular season but she did not face No. 1 seed Adriana Canigova of Bentonville.
"Katherine Tang, you can't ask for a better competitor," Fulton said. "She is a hard worker and she makes our entire team better. She will have a tough semifinal match. If she gets past that match, she will have another tough match."
Canigova will face Shreya Majagi of Rogers High in the semifinals after posting a 6-0, 6-0 win over Springdale's Lorena Delahoya and a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Abby Barr of Fort Smith Southside. The Bentonville doubles teams of Avery Hargrove and Emily Gean and Bessie Sullivan and Taylor Cheung-Damonte also advanced to the semifinals.
"For the most part, we got done what we needed to," said Bentonville coach Nick Nersesian. "Adriana is a nice little move-in to have. She is one of those kids that keeps working hard and grinds it out. She is going to have some tough matches (today)."
Bentonville, the defending Class 7A state champions, and Rogers are tied for the team lead with seven points each. The Lady Mounties doubles team of Maddie McKinney and Addy Lewis are also in the semifinals and they will face Hargrove and Gean this morning.
The tournament concludes today with boys and girls semifinals at 10 a.m. The finals are scheduled for 3 p.m.
Sports on 10/09/2015