Drama in every division, as high school tennis players went back and forth with state championships on the line

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - It was a drama-filled day inside the Alaska Club East, where nearly every division had to go to an extra set to decide a champion.

A match can take 45 minutes or two hours and that was on display at the 2022 ASAA Tennis State Championships. Almost all matches were forced to go to an extra set.

Service’s Allya Pedalino was seeded number one in girls’ singles. Pedalino cruised to the final match where she met up with Juneau’s Katie Pikul.

Pikul lost her first match and had to fight her way back up through the consolation bracket. Pikul had to play hours of tennis on the final day before she played in the championship match.

The first set was a battle, with Pikul winning 7-5. Pedalino started to show some discomfort in her forearm. It turns out that she was cramping and it wasn’t just her forearm. She also started to get cramping in her leg and forfeited the match.

“Well, I was concerned for her because it was pretty clear that something was wrong. I was like, what’s going on, how is this going to be affected when we continue. Then she’s back on the court, this is great and then her leg starts hurting. Oh no her body is just giving out at this point. I felt very bad for her,” PIkul said.

Pedalino would come back to face Pikul for the championship. Pikul showed her range, getting to nearly every ball and winning the match 4-0, 4-1 to win the singles championship as a senior.

South’s Aaron Griffin and Service’s Ulysess Escobar played for the boys’ championship.

Escobar and Griffin have played each other often in the past few weeks. Escobar won at regions and Griffin won during the first rounds at state. Escobar then won to force a winner-take-all.

The two have strikingly different play styles and that was apparent during the final match.

Escobar won the first point 4-1 using consistency. Griffin won the second point with power, forcing a match to 10 for the championship. Escobar, a sophomore, got up early. Griffin turned it on at the right time and won the match and the championship 10-7.

“Words can’t describe it. It feels so good. It was a tough match, no one knew who was going to win until that final point” Griffin said.

Cyrus Clendaniel and Jude Cebrain of West Anchorage High School won the championship in boys’ doubles.

In girls’ doubles, Dimond’s Laney Fagerstrom and Meghan Spils managed to take down West’s Lillian Yang and Eva Lief, 7-5, 6-4 — to force an extra match. In the end, the West Anchorage Eagles would fly to another championship in the extra match.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the mixed doubles court, where West’s Ava Smith and Will Sedwick played number one-seeded South’s Daniella Jameson and Ryder Skaaren. They played each other many times this season. South won 8-6, 6-4 to take the championship.

To see all of the results across all of the divisions you can do so by clicking here.

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