South siblings cruise into singles finals at state tennis championships

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 11

Service’s Clarisse Mock in a doubles match against West Valley during the state tennis championships Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 at the Alaska Club East. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News)

South High's defending state singles champions — siblings Joseph Hemry and Christine Hemry — put themselves in position to repeat as champs at the state high school tennis tournament.

Both players cruised to first-round and semifinal-round victories Friday on the tournament's first day of action at the Alaska Club East.

The Hemrys are the only players with a chance to defend their titles. Two players from Juneau who won a doubles title last year are also back in the finals, but they're playing in different divisions this year.

Erica Hurtte and Sami Good won the girls doubles crown a year ago for the Crimson Bears. This year, Hurtte is playing girls singles and Good is playing mixed doubles.

Hurtte faces Christine Hemry in a 2:30 p.m. final. Good and partner Philip Wall will take on South's Chris Bailey and Khailey Yancha in a 1:30 p.m. final.

South advanced players to the finals in all five divisions. The Wolverines will be represented by Jake Brown and Lian Lincoln in boys doubles and by Isabella Jameson and Sophia Sanders in girls doubles.

Boys and girls doubles matches begin at 12:30 p.m. Brown/Lincoln will meet Alec Clayton and Dylan Bruce of Service in the boys doubles final and Jameson/Sanders will play Lathrop's Amara Hackett and Anna Kardash in the girls doubles final.

The boys singles final, scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., pits Joseph Hemry against Eli Neslund of East in a rematch of last week's Cook Inlet Conference championship match.

Boys singles

First round

Joseph Hemry (South) def. Igor O'Rear (North Pole) 6-0, 6-0.

Derek Stone (Dimond) def. Robert Alexander (Hutchison) 6-0, 6-2.

Eli Neslund (East) def. Nicholai Benko (Service) 6-3, 6-4.

Wolf Dostal (Juneau) def. Johnie Burton (Palmer) 6-1, 6-0.

Semifinals

Hemry (South) def. Stone (Dimond) 6-0, 6-1.

Neslund (East) def. Dostal (Juneau) 6-1, 6-0.

Girls singles

First round

Christine Hemry (South) def. Maggie Krafft (Chugiak) 6-1, 6-0.

Sumie Hirobe (Wasilla) def. Roslyn Stapp (North Pole) 6-4, 7-6, 10-5.

Erica Hurtte (Juneau) def. Savannah Paull (West) 6-1, 6-1.

Kaja Ferklova (South) def. Roan Wilson (West Valley) 6-1, 6-0.

Semifinals

Hemry (South) def. Hirobe (Wasilla) 6-0, 6-0.

Hurtte (Juneau) def. Ferklova (South) 7-6, 6-1.

Boys doubles

First round

Bron Gerrish/Brandon Vanlandingham (West Valley) def. Jacob Dale/Reuben MacNaughton (Juneau) 6-3, 6-1.

Jake Brown/Lian Lincoln (South) def. Jake Footit/Pearson Clark (Monroe) 6-0, 6-0.

David Columbus/Nicola Rupt (East) def. Brennan Eastley/Logan Crawford (Colony) 6-1, 6-1.

Alec Clayton/Dylan Bruce (Service) def. Jake Stone/Conor Bates-Janigo (Dimond) 6-1, 6-1.

Semifinals

Brown/Lincoln (South) def. Gerrish/Vanlandingham (Juneau) 6-3, 6-3.

Clayton/Bruce (Service) def. Columbus/Rupf (East) 7-6, 6-2.

Girls doubles

Amara Hackett/Anna Kardash (Lathrop) def. Becky Larue/Kathryn Bistodeau (Chugiak) 6-3, 6-2.

Peyton Brown/Lauren Robertson (South) def. Madisyn Carter/Olivia Moore (Juneau) 5-7, 7-5, 10-6.

Isabella Jameson/Sophia Sanders (South) def. Chelsey Abad/Leah Bachini (Kodiak) 6-4, 4-6, 10-2.

Jodan Dick/Isabel Hammond (West Valley) def. Clarissa Mock/Claudine Mock (Service) 6-3, 6-3.

Semifinals

Hackett/Kardash (Lathrop) def. Brown/Robertson (South) 6-0, 6-0.

Jameson/Sanders (South) def. Dick/Hammond (West Valley) 6-3, 6-4.

Mixed doubles

First round

Philip Wall/Sami Good (Juneau) def. Ryan Zeissel/Brittany Narow (North Pole) 6-0, 6-1.

Kyle Winkler/Kristina Yu (West) def. Dan Johnson/Alisha Santamarie (Kodiak) 6-1, 6-1.

Chris Bailey/Khailey Yancha (South) def. Alden Butzke/Gretchen Dana (Dimond) 6-0, 6-0.

Nicholas Alvord/Bella Pretlow (Service) def. Brian Ely/Jacqueline Koehen (West Valley) 7-5, 6-4.

Semifinals

Wall/Good (Juneau) def. Winkler/Yu (West) 6-0, 6-1.

Bailey/Yancha (South) def. Alvord/Pretlow (Service) 6-1, 6-1.