Lady Knights claim TAPPS state title

May 2-The St. Augustine Lady Knights are state champions.

St. Augustine, fueled by a second-place finish in girls singles by Ari Gonzalez, recently claimed the TAPPS 5A state championship at the Waco Regional Tennis Center in Waco.

Coached by Tita Ramon, the Lady Knights qualified three entries past the district tournament and to state. Along with Gonzalez's runner-up performance in singles were quarterfinals runs by Amrit Alston in singles and the duo of Camila Villarreal and Alejandra Leyendecker in doubles.

It was Gonzalez's gritty 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 win in the semifinals that clinched the state title for St. Augustine. Gonzalez fell 0-6, 6-7 in the singles state championship to Juliet Lombardi of The Emery/Weiner School. Along the way, Gonzalez, who was the singles district champion, won 6-0, 6-0 in the first round and in the quarterfinals.

Alston opened up with a 6-0, 6-0 win in the first round, before falling 1-6, 2-6 to Lombardi, the eventual state champion. In doubles, Villarreal and Leyendecker won 6-1, 6-3 in the first round, but lost in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 7-10 in the quarterfinals.

The state title puts St. Augustine back on top of the TAPPS tennis world. In fall team tennis, St. Augustine claimed three straight state crowns from 2022-2024.

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