St. Mary’s girls win team crown; Crusader boys place 2nd behind title-winning effort by Smith doubles team

Ben Smith and Hunter Smith had to work a little overtime Saturday, but it was well worth it as the No. 2-seeded boys doubles team from St. Mary’s carved out a Class 4A/3A/2A/1A state championship to highlight the final day of action at the OSU Tennis Complex in Corvallis.

The Smiths prevailed in three sets — winning one pivotal tiebreaker set — in each of their matches on Day 3 of the tournament, and boosted the Crusaders’ cause as they finished second in the boys team standings to Marist.

With five entries — two singles players and three doubles teams — St. Mary’s was able to collect 26 points, while Marist tallied 37 points to win the boys team title with its eight entries.

St. Mary’s senior Reid Ravassipour placed fourth in boys singles, and the doubles team of Landus Ho and Lucas Peterson rallied from an opening loss to claim the consolation championship.

The St. Mary’s boys didn’t have all the fun mind you, the Crusader girls capped quite a run of their own Saturday to secure the 4A/3A/2A/1A girls team championship in a tight battle with Marist.

St. Mary’s totaled 18.5 points to finish one point ahead of the Spartans, with third-seeded doubles team Sydney Holdermann and Alison Olson paving the way for the Crusaders by finishing as the state runner-up, and sophomore Carys Chamberland placing fourth in singles.

At the 5A level, Ashland senior Veronica Miller fell one win shy of reaching the championship finals for the fourth straight season, finishing third overall in girls singles to help the Grizzlies place fourth as a team.

Ben Smith, a sophomore, and Hunter Smith, a freshman, earned a clutch 7-6 tiebreaker in their first set of the day during the semifinals against fourth-seeded Ishaan Bhardwaj and Mason Do of Oregon Episcopal. After the Aardvarks pulled off a tiebreaker win of their own, the St. Mary’s duo fired back to take the third set 6-3 to earn their spot in the championship finals.

Third-seeded Will Barsotti and Burkeley Knight-Sheen of Marist put the Smiths on their heels with a 6-2 win in the opening set of the finals, but the Crusaders came back strong to clinch their title-winning effort with a pair of 6-4 triumphs.

Holdermann and Olson had to withstand their own share of drama to reach the girls doubles finals, rallying from an opening set loss to Cici Ji and Lucy Berglund of Oregon Episcopal with determination to pull out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win in the semifinal round.

The St. Mary’s duo held strong in the championship match but couldn’t find enough winners to deny No. 2 seeds Jiya Mehta and Amanda Perez of Catlin Gabel, who won 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Chamberland saw her winning streak halted in the girls singles semifinals by second-seeded Whitney Hedden of Marist in a 6-0, 6-0 setback. The sophomore rallied to claim the first set in the third-place finals against Philomath senior Adele Beckstead, but ran out of steam in the deciding third set in an 11-9 tiebreaker.

Ravassipour, the No. 3 seed, suffered a 6-4, 6-0 loss to top-seeded E.J. Roedl of Marist in the boys singles semifinals. A third-set tiebreaker ultimately didn’t go the senior’s way in the third-place finals, with No. 2 seed Zareh Gonzalvo eking out a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 10-8 victory.

Miller saw her dreams of finally playing for a 5A title fade in the semifinals with a loss to top-seeded Kennedy Harris of La Salle Prep for a second straight year in a 6-2, 6-4 setback.

In the third-place final, Miller bounced back against fourth-seeded Keira Lin of Crescent Valley for a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Miller wrapped her Ashland career with bookend third-place showings, finishing fourth in her sophomore and junior seasons.

Harris, a University of Portland commit, later saw her bid for a fourth straight state title negated by Summit sophomore Kate Bonetto, who won 6-3, 6-2 in the finals.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035