The new division setup in boys and girls singles and doubles tennis yielded its first state champions of 2011 in Division I and Division II on Monday afternoon at Paseo Racquet Club A nice balance was achieved with eight champs (four singles and four doubles) with eight different schools associated to the titles.

Leading the coronation were three-peat champs -- the Division II boys doubles team of Yates and Hunter Johnson of Millennium. The Johnsons, the 5A-II champs and 4A-I champs the last two years, respectively, defeated Brophy's Kyle Chalmers and Hudson Blake, 6-1, 7-5.

Picking up repeats of sorts were Corona del Sol's  Alex Lawson and Catalina Foothills Samantha Ruth. Lawson was half of the state champion 5A-I doubles team (in 2009 and 2010 with teammate Kyle Ogren). Lawson played singles this year and as the top-seed lived up to it with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Horizon's NIcolas Montoya to collect a third straight title.

Ruth paired with Nooria Sufi for Catalina Foothills last year to win the 4A-I doubles title. This year she teamed up with Nooria Sufi's younger sister, Zaina, to defeat Marissa Baca and Katrina Domingo of Ironwood Ridge, 6-3, 7-6 to claim Division II doubles supremacy.

The Division II boys doubles title match was an all-Ironwood Ridge affair. No. 3 seed Alec Petford and Cody Petford, knocked off unseeded teammates Josh Taylor and Connor Spiegel, 7-6, 6-2.

The Division II boys singles champ is Campo Verde's Dominic Patrick. Patrick beat last year's 4A-I singles champ, Saguaro's Cameron Tehrani  in the semifinals and then dispatched last year's 4A-II champ, Palo Verde's Carlos Bermudez, 7-5, 6-3 in the final.

Rounding out the other champions on Monday are: Division I girls singles went to  Centennial sophomore Mariely Hassey, who beat last year's 5A-I runner-up, Erica Medlin (Mesquite) in the semifinals after being down a set. Hassey then defeated Hamilton's Lidia Csernak in the final, 6-0, 6-1. The Division II girls singles crown went to Canyon del Oro's Rita Bermudez, who topped Sunnyslope's Aleeza Kanner, 6-4, 6-0.

The Division I girls doubles title fell to Mesa Mountain View's Alex Marlowe and Demi Daniels, who earned a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory over Xavier's Kendra Mahoney and Kelsey Rose.