Tennis Roundup: Gulliver, Cypress Bay Sweep Tennis State Titles

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Miami-Dade and Broward County showed just how strong high school tennis is in South Florida at the FHSAA State Meets (Class 4A and 3A) at Sanlando Park) and (Class 2A and 1A) Tuesday at Red Bug Lake and Sylvan Lake Parks in Altamonte Springs.

Gulliver Prep (2A) and Cypress Bay (4A) swept the boys and girls team titles.

Gulliver Prep won its fourth state team title in five years and tenth overall in the history of the boys' program. Gulliver Prep is now ranked second all-time in Miami-Dade history to Coral Gables with 17.

The Raiders defeated Montverde Academy, 4-3, with singles victories from No. 2 Nicolas Ramirez, No. 3 Christian Otero, No. 4 Maxim Krapvin and No. 5 Ryan Hellinger.

Gulliver Prep's girls' team won its third state crown in four years and sixth overall, ranking them fifth all-time among Miami-Dade schools.

In their matches against Lake Highland Prep and Lemon Bay, the Warriors lost only six service games.

Julieta Dalmau and Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico won at No. 1 doubles and Lindy Lyons and Estafania Navarro won No. 2 doubles. Dalmau, Navarro and Ramirez are three-time state champions.

Cypress Bay's girls' team won its third consecutive Class 4A state title. The Lightning shut out Olympia, 4-0.

Jemileth Aguilar and Sibel Can won the No. 1 doubles title and twin sisters Michelle and Samara Eisenberg won the No. 2 doubles crown. Michelle Eisenberg and Laura Herrera won their singles matches to clinch the win.

Cypress Bay's boys team won its second consecutive state title and fourth in five years, also with a shutout, 4-0 over Sarasota Riverview.

Andrew and Michael Heller won the No. 1 doubles title and Sebastian Ariza and Robert Slutsky won the No. 2 doubles title.

Yale-bound Andrew Heller won his second state singles title and Nicolas Cabrera won his first individual title to clinch the team win.

Other Miami-Dade and Broward tennis players did well individually.

Coral Gables swept the Class 4A boys' and girls' doubles titles. Kristina Fernandez and Sofia Quevedo won two three-set matches to capture the girls crown. The duo is the first girls double team to win since 1967. The boys team of Jack Lee and Daniel Krulig won the doubles title with a come-from-behind victory over Ferguson's Jose Ortega and Jose Disotuar.

MAST Academy is not only enjoying success with its water polo team this season. The school also made history when Richie Torres won the program's first Class 2A singles title. The Boston University-bound senior defeated Alexander Zenonos of Paxon, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals and Brandon Shanklin of Somerset Academy, 6-1, 6-4, in the final to clinch the win. Torres finished as Dade's top boys player. He won district and region titles and finished 18-1.

American Heritage Plantation won the Class 2A doubles title. The team of Zachary Ebenfeld and Jordan Skalet is the first duo to defend their state title since St. Thomas Aquinas' Jose Ayala and Mark Merklein in 1988-89.

The FHSAA introduced a new format for this year's state tennis tournament. Instead of points from individual match wins, teams went head-to-head in three rounds to decide state champions.