Girls Tennis: Ironwood Ridge gets past Salpointe, 5-1

May 6, 2015 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Salpointe's Hailey Swanson.
(Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge hosted Tucson Salpointe in the quarterfinal round of the Division II playoffs on Wednesday and came away with a 5-1 win to advance.

The No. 4 Nighthawks will take on top-seeded Phoenix Arcadia in the semifinal round on Friday at the Paseo Racquet Center. Division II singles champion Caroline Amos defeated Kelsey Brown (6-0, 6-1) to score Salpointe's only point of the match.

Amos will be joining her sister Courtney at Yale next fall and she reflected on her time at Salpointe after the match.

"My freshman year was amazing and then I became the number one my sophomore year," Amos explained. "I became a leader right away and that was a good experience."

Her older sister Courtney won a singles championship in 2012 after winning back-to-back doubles championships with their cousin Lauren Amos in 2009 and 2010. Lauren and Courtney were also part of three state team titles from 2009 to 2011.

Caroline took her junior year off to train in California and came back to win a singles title in her own name.

"This was my best year by far," Amos added. "The pressure was off until I went to state because I represented my family and my school. But the pressure was good."

Kelsey Brown's cousin Sara Brown won a singles title at Ironwood Ridge in 2013 and a doubles title in 2010 with Marissa Baca. Kelsey and her doubles partner Allison Knox won the title last year. Ironwood Ridge won a team championship in 2012.

Even with a hectic week of Advanced Placement tests, papers and finals looming, head coach Susan Williams still feels optimistic about her team's chances on Friday.

"It was much worse last year when we had to travel all the way to Lake Havasu during testing so one of our goals was to get a better seed this year," Williams said. "I like the way we stack up against our opponent and we will be ready."

 

Ironwood Ridge 5, Salpointe Catholic 1

Caroline Amos (SC) def. Kelsey Brown (6-0, 6-1)

Allie Knox (IR) def. Hailey Swanson (6-0, 6-2)

Kailyn Teel (IR) def. Isa Anaya (6-1, 6-1)

Patricia Bernabe (IR) def. Gabbie Ramirez (6-0, 6-2)

Amanda Betten (IR) def. Alma Wilcox (6-2, 6-2)

Calli Bagshaw (IR) def. Emma Giclas (6-3, 7-5)