Gaels, Palo Verde earn repeat titles

Marietta Maffey watched and rooted on as her Bishop Gorman teammates won the last two state girls tennis titles.

On Friday, the cheering was finally for Maffey.

One of two seniors on a young team, Maffey paired with sophomore Anita Lee to win three doubles matches, including the final match of the day, to push the Gaels to a three-peat with a 10-8 win over Coronado in the state championship match at the Darling Tennis Center.

“Right before the match, everyone said they wanted to win this for the seniors, and that meant so much to me,” Maffey said. “It just feels great.”

Gorman joined Palo Verde’s boys as state champs. The Panthers completed a second consecutive undefeated season with a 13-5 win over Bonanza in the final.

Maffey has played doubles all season. As a sophomore, she didn’t play in the state final. Last season, she played as a substitute when the match basically was decided.

She took on a starring role this week, pairing with Lee in practice Monday.

“I’d been with different partners all year and then the coaches threw Anita in,” Maffey said. “She’s a great player.”

The Gaels changed their lineup, moving Lee to doubles for the semifinals and final in an effort to strengthen their doubles teams.

“Anita is one of our best players, and (Marietta) just smiling and wanting to play, yeah, it was … wow … it was just amazing,” Gorman coach Gordon Hammond said.

Coronado did the same, moving two of its singles players to different doubles teams. Gorman’s move, though, paid a bigger dividend.

The Gaels won six of the nine doubles matches.

“I was excited to play doubles,” Lee said. “I honestly thought it was a good idea.”

Still, Gorman needed Maffey and Lee to come through in the final match to secure the win. The Gaels led 9-8 with only the match between Maffey and Lee and Coronado’s Gabriella Janotta and Maddison Mathis remaining.

Leading 4-3 in the set, Maffey and Lee fought off two game points and rallied to break serve. Lee then held serve to finish the match and start a celebration.

“We all worked hard, and we all did it together,” Lee said. “When (Maffey) jumped on me and told me we had won, I just got so excited. She was our inspirational leader all year. For her to be on the court with me feels even better.”

Gorman (16-0) also was the last team to win three consecutive state titles, securing the crown from 1997 to 1999. The Gaels have won 12 of the last 16 state championships.

“There are always challenges,” Hammond said. “Teams want to beat us.”

Coronado finished 15-2. Both losses came to Gorman.

“We played a tough team,” Coronado coach Bob Clements said. “They were close matches. I’m happy with my team’s performance.”

In the boys final, Palo Verde started fast, leading 8-4 after two rounds, and breezed to its 41st straight victory.

The Panthers won eight of the nine singles matches and got stellar play from seniors Spencer Aguiar and Zach Wetterling, who went 3-0 in doubles.

The two seniors helped the Panthers to state titles in 2004 and 2006.

“To win three out of four feels great,” Wetterling said. “We lost a lot of seniors from last year.”

Palo Verde (19-0) defeated Bonanza in the regular season and in the Sunset Regional final after starting the season as the favorite to win the state crown.

“We knew we would have to play our best,” Palo Verde coach Zach Brandt said. “It’s a relief. There’s a lot of pressure on these kids. All that pressure is finally relieved for them.”

Bonanza finished 15-3, the losses all coming to the Panthers.

“We gave it all we could,” Bonanza coach Erik Davis said. “They were the better team today. They’re one of the best high school tennis teams I’ve seen.”