STOCKTON — A finalist two years ago, Ripon Christian’s Drew Meester did not want to pass up on his last chance to capture a title in the Sac-Joaquin Section Individual Coed Tennis Tournament.
He was willing to miss out on his senior trip to do so, it was just a matter of finding the right partner.
Meester looked to a freshman.
Kora Harris, who played in Knights’ No. 2 girls singles spot all season, teamed with Meester for mixed doubles competition, and on Tuesday, they ended a decades-long drought after outlasting Monika Chang and Ashton Guiraud of Colfax in the final 6-7 (1), 6-0, 6-2 at Oak Park Tennis Center.
“It’s a pretty awesome way to end,” Meester said. “I’ve been here the last two years. Got knocked out pretty early on last year, and then the year before that, I made it to the finals and lost in three sets. So, it’s a good way to end. It’s nice going out with a bang.”
In 2023, Jaden Bohn and Meester took second in the boys doubles tournament, and they were the first Knights to advance to the final round of the SJS individual tournament since Christine Van Regenmorter captured the girls singles championship in 1993.
Harris and Meester were dominant to start.
On Monday, they ousted Highlands’ Cesar Barrera and Saryssa Felton 6-0, 6-0 before vanquishing Sutter’s Garrett Fremd and Olivia Montna, 6-0, 6-1.
The Knights returned Tuesday for the semifinals, fending off Amy Houser and Allen Swett, 6-3, 6-3.
Harris and Meester started well in the title round, but unforced errors mounted in the end. Limiting the miscues helped them quickly get through the second set.
“I thought we definitely pushed it,” Harris said. “In the first set, we knew that we could have done a little better, just made some mistakes here and there. We definitely came back around with some motivation and keeping each other up, not letting ourselves get too far down.”
While the Knights raised their play, the Colfax tandem struggled with missed serves and botched opportunities in the final two sets. The match ended with Guiraud hitting an overhead smash into the net.
It was a fitting final-round match-up after Ripon Christian and top-seeded Colfax were set to meet in the team finals last week. Colfax wound up forfeiting because most of its players had to take International Baccalaureate exams.
“We beat their No. 1 boy and No. 1 girl, and we’re the No. 1 and No. 2,” Meester said. “It would have been a good match with Colfax, but I do think we would have won that, as well. It was fun playing against them, and they’re super nice people, too. It’s sad we couldn’t play them in the team finals, but this is still good. It feels too to win this.”
Ripon Christian coach Melody de Abreu credited Meester for the mixed doubles pairing. She revealed that it was he who sought a partnership with Harris.
“Kora has been a gift to us,” de Abreu said. “For a freshman, she has great court awareness. She’s smart and has great fundamentals. She is someone who knows how to play the game, and Drew, with his level play, was looking for something like that.
“They really came together, had great communication. They were jelling 100%, and that’s what they needed to win this.”
Harris hopes to make it back to the individual tournament, with her sights set on girls doubles and singles titles. Ripon Christian, the reigning Trans-Valley League and SJS Division II coed champion, returns No. 1 girls singles player Tatum Sonke as a senior next year. Sonke qualified for the SJS individual tourney in singles play and lost to West Campus’ Gabriella Georgieva 1-6, 1-6 in the first round Monday.
Also competing Monday was the Ripon girls double pairing of Brookelyn Betschart and Alyssa Lan. They lost a tough 6-7, 4-6 opener to eventual finalists Maya Williams and Emily Ramirez of Riverbank.
“I’m going to try to get a girls doubles title and maybe singles later on,” Harris said. “I want to partner up with our girls No. 1. Seeing the competition here, I feel like we could do really well. By my junior and senior years, I feel like I could have a good chance in singles.”
DIVISION II BOYS
Sierra senior Brady Alves ended his high school career Monday in the SJS Division II Individual Tournament in Roseville.
He lost a three-set heartbreaker to River City’s Ethan Victor, 6-0, 3-6, 8-10.
“We were hoping to get some wins, but there are some good kids at sections,” Sierra coach Dan Duke said. “Brady gets to go out as a two-time section (team) champion, and that’s pretty special.”
