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Plant, Wharton win state tennis titles

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 28, 2009

Updated: 04/28/2009 11:57 pm

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS - A pair of Hillsborough County high school tennis teams made history Tuesday.

Wharton's boys team became the first Hillsborough County program to win back-to-back state tennis titles, and Plant became the county's first girls team to win a state championship.

"We want another one," said Wharton junior Michael Alford, the Wildcats' No. 1 singles player. "We want to three-peat."

Wharton won a share of the Class 3A title when it tied with Fort Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas. The Wildcats beat St. Thomas Aquinas last year for its first tennis championship. Alford, No. 2 Ben Hwang and No. 3 Rohit Navelkar each won their division to help Wharton secure the title.

St. Thomas Aquinas claimed a share of the championship when its No. 1 doubles team defeated Alford and Navelkar in three sets. The Wharton duo rallied after losing the first set and forced a deciding set by overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the second.

Alford will play for the overall Class 3A singles championship today.

Plant won three singles finals to clinch the 3A title ahead of West Broward. No. 1 Amber Li, No. 3 Claire Mitchell-Andrews and No. 4 Morgan Nolan easily handled their competition in the finals without dropping a set. Nolan teamed with Carol Marie Fraley to win the No. 2 doubles division.

And, like Alford, Li will play today for the overall Class 3A singles title.

"We get a banner now," Plant coach Lynn Vu said. "We have all the volleyball ones and football ones and cross country ones, and now we can finally add a girls tennis one."

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