OBC Tennis tournament -- Storm look to maintain county dominance

A new format is in store at the Orange Belt Conference tennis tournaments, which start Saturday morning at the Kissimmee Oaks Courts. The championship round is Tuesday at Celebration High School at 4 p.m.

This year’s tournament features a single elimination bracket for five singles lines and two doubles lines. The highest ranked players on each line as ranked by Universal Tennis Rankings will earn top seeds.

Action starts Saturday morning with the eight girls and boys No. 1 matches. Once singles are completed, the doubles quarterfinals will commence, followed by the semifinals.

Individuals and doubles teams earn one point per win and the school with the most points will earn the OBC championship. This will be the first time in OBC history this format will be used, replacing a season-long round robin competition.

“It’s a new format, but it is keeping in line with the idea of determining our team champions with a tournament, Osceola County Athletics Director Ryan Adams said.

Although the format may be new, the tournament favorites don’t change. Celebration’s boys and girls will both be seeking conference champion repeats. The Storm boys have won the last six OBCs and 10 of the last 13; while the Celebration girls are seeking their third straight OBC championship and their eighth in the last 10 years.

Celebration boys are led by Cayman Pearce and Juan Jimenez, who have split time at No. 1 singles and form the Storm’s top doubles team. Freshmen Gabriel Santos and Spencer Sterry have gone 5-1 this the No. 2 doubles team.

Coach Rachel Holt believes the Celebration girls team is one the strongest since she has been at the school. Senior Valerina Lopez is 8-0 at No. 1 singles and combined with fellow senior Diana Perez-Nunez to go 5-0 at No. 1 doubles. Perez-Nunez is 6-1 at No. 2 singles, while freshman Naiya Wise-Beaumont is 4-1 at No. 4 singles.

Harmony and Gateway are expected to challenge Celebration at OBCs. The Longhorn boys, which does not feature a senior among its top seven players, are led by a juniors Cole Nelson and Lincoln Johnson at No. 1 and 2 singles and No. 1 doubles. The Harmony girls took a 3-0 mark into play this week and are led by Gabriella Alvardo and Brie White.

Gateway (4-4) features an extremely young roster on the boys’ side as the top seven players consist of six sophomores and a freshman. Kyle Vonk (44) and Gabriel Gonzalez (3-3) have spent the majority of the season as the Panthers No. 1 and 2 singles players and top doubles team.

Sisters Anaila and Aurelia Cooks form the Lady Panthers top doubles team; Anaila (4-2) is in her third year at No. 1 singles. Also of note is sophomore Anisa Hanafi, who is a combined 5-0 in singles play this year – spending the majority of the season at No. 5.

St. Cloud could also be a factor with both the boys and girls teams already owning a victory over Gateway this season. Jake Chisholm (3-1) and Maxim Jezek (3-1) have both played No. 1 and 2 and form the school’s top doubles team. Freshman Brody Ansbaugh is 5-0 at No. 5.

The Lady Bulldogs are 2-2 this season and are led by Cassandra Borchers, Isabella Halk and Gwyneth Fancher. Borchers (2-2) and Halk (3-1) are playing out of the top two spots; Borchers and Flanders are the school’s top doubles’ team. The results of the tennis competition could be extremely important for the Bulldogs, who are currently locked in a tight race with Harmony for the OBC All-Sports Trophy. Following the fall and spring sports, only a few points separated the two schools.

“On paper we may be the favorites, but in a tournament situation, anything can happen,” Holt said. “Harmony and Gateway have some very good players throughout their lineup and Osceola and St. Cloud are also solid at spots. This new format will definitely create some excitement for the players.”