It wasn’t exactly a gold-medal finish, but the Park City girls’ tennis team found a silver lining: second place at the 3A state tennis championships last weekend held on the Brigham Young University campus.
The Miners finished just two points behind Desert Hills High School, which wrapped up its third straight 3A state title.
“We were elated to take second place in the entire state, and what made it so sweet was the fact that we were only two points, or one match, away from first place,” head coach Lori McMahon said. “We were up against a Desert Hills team that has dominated this tournament for years. Our Park City girls played great tennis and with such heart. It was very emotional for all of us.”
After dominating much of its regular-season play, Park City found itself in a three-way battle Saturday with Desert Hills and Judge Memorial vying for the chance to raise the first-place trophy.
The Judge Bulldogs had beaten Park City for second place last season, and had already beaten the Miners twice this year, but the Miners responded against their old rivals to take second place with a firm grip.
Each one of the three teams qualified for all five semifinal matches Saturday; an astounding achievement in the second day of a state tournament.
“We knew we were in the top three teams after doing so well the first day,” McMahon said. “There are only a select few teams that can make it all the way into the semis without losing a match at each position. And we were one of them.”
In the semifinals, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Katherine Davis and Dani Lecher had to endure several distractions.
BYU’s marching band was playing nearby and the players also had to deal with cannons going off at LaVell Edwards Stadium, but the pair pulled out an epic win as they downed Judge’s top team, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
“This match was unbelievable,” McMahon said. “They had lost to this Judge team at the (State) Divisional, 6-2, 6-2 and to come back and win this match when it really counted was absolutely incredible. It brought tears to everyone’s eyes, that’s how exciting this match was and it put them into the finals.”
The duo would go on to take second in the No. 1 doubles tournament.
The No. 2 doubles team of Kara Johnson and Julie Patterson fell to one of the strongest teams in the tournament as the Miners’ duo fell to a Desert Hills team 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Park City was ridden with a key injury at an inopportune time as senior No. 3 Alex Oriente developed tendinitis in her wrist, and fell to Cloe Repner of Judge, 6-4 6-2 in the finals.
Senior No. 1 Stormy Dvorak drew arguably the toughest match of the entire tournament as she fell to Morgan Anderson of Desert Hills, 6-3 6-0 in the No. 1 singles final.
But it was freshman Solveig Karlsen who stole the show.
It was up to Karlsen to determine whether the Miners would finish second or third as she faced Judge’s Emily Murnin. Karlsen took the first set 6-4, but fell behind in the second set 1-4.
But the freshman responded.
Karlsen stormed back to take the second set 6-4 to win the 3A state championship in the No. 2 position.
“(Karlsen) took her time and was smart out there being very consistent with nice high topspin shots,” McMahon said. “She waited for a short ball and just ripped every one of them.”
The Miners’ head coach, while ecstatic over this season’s accomplishments, cannot help but look to the future of this team.
“Desert Hills will have their entire varsity graduating this year, so we are already looking forward to state next year,” McMahon said. “I am so proud of each of the girls this year. It was one of the most cohesive, motivated, fun teams that I have ever had.”
The future is, in fact, bright for Park City.
A junior varsity team that went undefeated this season lays in wait for its shot next year.