Boys tennis player of the year
Name: Yash Parikh
School: Salpointe Catholic
Year in school: Sophomore
Sport: Boys tennis
From the archives: In the boys match, Foothills jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Salpointe after No. 5 junior Dalton Reisig and No. 4 sophomore John Miller won singles matches in straight sets. Miller stayed unbeaten in singles play for two years.
Foothills boys coach David King enjoyed the journey to the state title.
"Totally a team win today," King said. "So many different players got us here today and so many different guys win for us. The undefeated season is nice, but it doesn't matter if you don't win the championship.
"It's great to win with these guys. There's no better group in the state."
Salpointe sophomore Yash Parikh and junior Jack George won singles matches. Parikh defeated Foothills junior Bogdan Racolta 6-2, 6-4 and George beat senior Josh Mantell 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 6-3.
It was the second straight season the Lancers lost in the state final.
In the Division III state championship, top-seeded Thatcher beat Pusch Ridge Christian for the second time in three years. Thatcher won 5-1 and three matches went into tie-break sets.
"I was pleased with how they competed," Pusch Ridge coach David Towne said. "[Thatcher] was just the better team today. We have a lot to be proud of." — Chuck Constantino, 2014
