ST. GEORGE — The Dixie Flyers boys tennis team won the Region 9 championship on Thursday, sweeping the Cedar Reds to finish the regular season undefeated at 7-0.
Last Tuesday, Dixie had edged Crimson Cliffs 3-2 in a tight battle at Crimson Cliffs, with the Flyers winning both doubles matches and the Mustangs taking both No. 1 and No. 2 singles in straight sets.
That left the No. 3 singles match as the deciding contest. Dixie’s Chase Poulton lost the first set to Crimson’s Jacob Brown, 6-7, but bounced back to win the second, 6-0. The third set also went to a tiebreaker, with Poulton prevailing 7-6 and giving Dixie the narrow 3-2 match win. The Mustangs went on to finish the season as the region’s runners-up, their only loss being the one to Dixie.
Dixie head coach Todd Staheli said the Flyers’ second doubles team of Korbin Suwyn and Brandon Snow went undefeated in region play, while Dixie’s first doubles team of Brady Madrid and Josh Barney lost just one match, to Pine View’s Coby Christenson and Kaden Koch.
Christenson and Koch, who went undefeated in region play at 7-0, are 26-1 overall, their only loss coming to Lone Peak in a preseason tournament.
“Our doubles teams and Pine View’s have steadily gotten better and better throughout the season,” Staheli said. “They’ve all had a good year and are peaking at the right time.”
Staheli said his Flyers will likely face tough challenges from both Crimson Cliffs and Pine View players during this coming weekend’s Region 9 tournament.
“We don’t have any superstars, but we do have a really solid group of players and that’s worked out well for us,” Staheli said.
Staheli added that although Poulton, a senior, didn’t play in Dixie’s first match against Canyon View, he has won all of his No. 3 singles varsity matches since then.
Crimson Cliffs saw its top two singles players go 7-0 in region play, as freshman Max Miner won all of his No. 1 singles matches in straight sets and senior Zach Sodorff also went undefeated in second singles.
Crimson Cliffs head coach Colin Brown had high praise for both players, who’ve led the Mustangs’ promising team throughout the season.
“Max is a solid player, obviously,” Brown said of Miner, who has been playing tennis since he was 5 years old. “This is just his first year (in high school), so he’s got plenty of years ahead of him.”
Sodorff, meanwhile, is the lone Mustang with state tournament experience, having qualified for state as a sophomore in 2019 when he played for Snow Canyon. All high school spring sports activities were canceled throughout Utah the following year due to COVID-19, meaning Crimson Cliffs didn’t get to play boys tennis during its inaugural year as a school.
The region’s players will be seeded according to their season records in this coming weekend’s Region 9 tournament, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Tonaquint Tennis Center in St. George. The single-elimination tournament starts at 9 a.m. both days.
The top six placers at region will then advance to the state 4A tournament, scheduled for May 14-15 at Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park.
April 20 results
- Snow Canyon def. Hurricane 3-2.
- Crimson Cliffs def. Desert Hills 5-0.
- Dixie def. Pine View 3-2.
- Cedar def. Canyon View 5-0.
April 22 results
- Pine View def. Cedar 4-1.
- Dixie def. Snow Canyon 5-0.
- Crimson Cliffs def. Hurricane 3-2.
- Desert Hills def. Canyon View 5-0.
April 27 results
- Pine View def. Snow Canyon 5-0.
- Hurricane def. Canyon View 5-0.
- Desert Hills def. Cedar 4-1.
- Dixie def. Crimson Cliffs 3-2.
April 29 results
- Snow Canyon def. Canyon View 5-0.
- Dixie def. Cedar 5-0.
- Desert Hills def. Hurricane 5-0.
- Crimson Cliffs def. Pine View 3-2.
Region 9 boys tennis final regular season standings
- Dixie 7-0
- Crimson Cliffs 6-1
- Pine View 5-2
- Desert Hills 4-3
- Cedar 3-4
- Snow Canyon 2-5
- Hurricane 1-6
- Canyon View 0-7
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L-R: Kaden Koch and Coby Christenson of Pine View play in a doubles match, St. George, Utah, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Pine View High School Athletics, St. George News Team photo of Dixie High School boys tennis team, St. George, Utah, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News Dixie High School boys tennis players after defeating Cedar to end regular season undefeated in region play, St. George, Utah, April 29, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News Dixie High School boys tennis players celebrate win over Cedar to end regular season, St. George, Utah, April 29, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News Coby Christenson of Pine View in 2021 season action, location and date not specified. | Photo courtesy of Pine View High School Athletics, St. George News Kaden Koch of Pine View in 2021 season action, location and date not specified. | Photo courtesy of Pine View High School Athletics, St. George News Zach Sodorff of Crimson Cliffs serves against Hurricane, Washington City, Utah, April 22, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Crimson Cliffs High School Athletics, St. George News Max Miner of Crimson Cliffs in action against Hurricane, Washington City, Utah, April 22, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Crimson Cliffs High School Athletics, St. George News
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