Palo Verde boys, Coronado girls look to continue tennis domination

Liberty coach and state tennis tournament coordinator Kih Gourrier has never been part of anything like this.

Bishop Manogue was recently shut down for nearly a week after a whooping cough outbreak. Because Manogue is a regional host and has athletes that were held out of competition while the school was closed, that pushed the 4A state tournament back a week.

“The problem is the kids get so excited, amped up and ready to play,” Gourrier said. “Then they have to de-escalate and then get ready to play again. The other part that comes into play is weather. We’re used to finishing the season in warm weather, and this could actually be an advantage to the north schools.”

The tournament will be held next week at Bishop Gorman, with the team event being played Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 4-6. The individual portion will be held Nov. 6-7.

Over the past few years, it’s been all south as far as winning titles, and the usual contenders are back again.

The Palo Verde boys are gunning for their fourth straigth state championship, while the Coronado girls are going for their third in a row. Coronado could have a challenge from a familiar foe in Palo Verde. The Palo Verde girls won three straight state titles from 2014-16 and fell to Coronado in last year’s final.

“An exciting matchup, if we get it, would be the Palo Verde and Coronado girls,” Gourrier said. “Palo Verde has the rich tradition, and Coronado has come in the past couple years and dominated. But it looks like Palo Verde is back, and Coronado lost a couple of good players from last year. It could be a great match.”

The Palo Verde boys will meet the winner of the second-round match between Clark and Bishop Manogue in its semifinal at noon Tuesday. The other semifinal between Coronado and Reno will also be played at noon Tuesday. The semifinal winners will meet for the title at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

On the girls side, Palo Verde and Reno, and Coronado and the winner of the Faith Lutheran-Galena second-round match will start their semifinals at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The championship match will be at noon Wednesday.

The 3A event will be held Thursday and Friday. The semifinals feature matches between The Meadows and South Tahoe, and Truckee and Boulder City at noon Thursday at Darling Tennis Center. The championship match will be at 11 a.m. Friday at The Meadows.

Boulder City and Truckee, and South Tahoe and The Meadows will face off in girls semifinals at 11 a.m. Thursday at Darling Tennis Center. The winners will meet for the crown at 8 a.m. Friday at The Meadows. The individual tournament for boys and girls will be held Friday and Saturday.

Unbeaten soccer teams set for playoffs

As the 4A playoffs loom, a pair of unbeaten teams hope to keep themselves that way and prove they’re the best in Nevada.

The Faith Lutheran girls (18-0-1) and Bishop Gorman boys (21-0-1) enter the postseason without a loss. Faith Lutheran moved up a spot to No. 8 in the USA Today Super 25, while Bishop Gorman held steady at No. 14.

They will have plenty of competition. The defending state champion Las Vegas boys are No. 6 in the USA Today Super 25 Region VIII poll, with Eldorado coming in at No. 13 in the region. The Arbor View girls are sixth in the Region VI poll, while Centennial is No. 14.

More preps: Follow at reviewjournal.com/nevadapreps and @NevadaPreps on Twitter.

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.