Gila Ridge tennis almost pulls off clean sweep to wrap up Yuma’s end of the year spring sports honors
Hawks tennis reels five of six top section honors, San Luis' Aguirre named boys singles POY
YUMA, Ariz., (KYMA, KECY) - In a year where many local student-athletes made it to the state tournament in tennis from Division I to Division III, several stood out in the end by earning section honors.
At the top of the list sat many Gila Ridge Hawks on both the boys and girls sides - almost pulling off a complete sweep in the votes.
DIVISION I BOYS
Desert Southwest Section Doubles Players of the Year
Andrew Tams & Shawn Garner - Gila Ridge
The Hawk tandem went 9-2 as the top doubles team, good enough to reach the Division I state bracket.
Garner went 22-6 overall between singles and doubles and Tams went 18-10 overall as the team's number one singles player.
Desert Southwest Section Singles Player of the Year
Derick Aguirre - San Luis
Aguirre went an impressive 13-1 in singles in the regular season en route to the state tournament, carrying a perfect record all the way until his final match at West Point before falling in the state bracket.
Aguirre put opponents away early, winning 12 of his 13 match victories in a straight two sets.
Desert Southwest Section Coach of the Year
Gregory Brown - Gila Ridge
Brown helped the Hawks boys squad to a perfect 5-0 in section play and the No. 27 team in Division I by the end of the season.
DIVISION I GIRLS
Desert Southwest Section Doubles Players of the Year
Faith Voorhies & Sarah Emmons - Gila Ridge
Emmons and Voorhies brought home the top doubles team in the section after going 9-2, earning them a trip to the state playoffs.
Emmons also went 15-3 in singles as Voorhies went a perfect 14-0 in singles as the No. 3.
Desert Southwest Section Singles Player of the Year
Lilly Moreland - Gila Ridge
Moreland continued her dominance, cementing herself as one of the best to ever take the courts at Gila Ridge.Â
Moreland was this year's Yuma Crim Smash singles champion once again and carried a 10-4 overall singles record - which included six straight set shutout wins en route to a state tournament appearance.
She also went a perfect 12-0 in doubles matches.
Desert Southwest Section Coach of the Year
Travis Bogart - Gila Ridge
Bogart won his 100th career match as head coach of the Lady Hawks in late March in a wild team win over Rincon, following that up with a trip to the state tournament as the only local team to do so. It was also the most wins (13) in a season for the program at the Division I level.