The Intermountain Conference tennis championships featured repeat titles in both the boys and girls singles competitions on Saturday at Caldera High School.

Summit sophomore Kate Bonetto won the girls singles title and Caldera senior Aiden Cruz won the boys title to repeat as IMC champions.

“I felt really good,” Cruz said. “It feels good to go back-to-back. It was kind of the expectation to do it, but it was good to get it done.”

Added Bonetto: “I felt great about how I played, I’m also glad with how the team played and contributed to our district title. I love a good challenge and to overcome the pressure.”

Summit won both the boys and girls team titles. The Storm boys narrowly beat second-place Caldera, while the Storm girls finished ahead of Redmond.

Cruz cruised to the finals winning 6-0, 6-0 in his first three matches, but then ran into Summit’s Austin Berg, who gave him a tough championship match with Cruz ultimately winning 7-5, 6-4 to claim the title.

“I was just able to stay mentally strong,” Cruz said. “There are always ups and downs, but I was able to continue to play well during the downs.”

It was a similar path to the title for Bonetto, as she never dropped a set in her first three matches and only allowed one point. Then in the championship match, she took down teammate Matilda Morgan 6-1, 6-0.

Both Cruz and Bonetto reached the Class 5A semifinals a year ago and are ready to make another deep run this Friday and Saturday at the Class 5A state championships at the West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club and the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton.

“I’m more confident this year because I’ve seen all the players that I am going to play,” Cruz said. “Having more experience is going to help.”

“It was a different environment than I am used to,” Bonetto said. “I’m ready for this weekend. I feel mature and confident that I can handle some of those situations.”

Van Kuik-Voige take boys doubles title for Caldera

Caldera’s Thijs Van Kuik has not been in the United States for long, but the exchange student from The Netherland knows that anytime you can take down Summit — especially on the tennis court — it is a big deal.

“They are a great team,” Van Kuik said. “Summit overall is always good. I’ve only been here one year, but everyone knows that. We had a tough first set, but me and Max (Voige) really started to play better. Those were hard opponents but it was a really good match for us overall. We just got lucky this time.”

Van Kuik and doubles teammate Max Voige found themselves against the tournament’s top seed in Summit’s Alex Lindsay and Nolan Rife. And in the first set, Lindsay and Rife cruised to a 6-2 win to take the early advantage.

But then Voige and Van Kuik — who had only played a handful of doubles matches as teammates this spring — began to seize the match.

The Caldera pair won back-to-back marathon sets (7-5 in the second and 6-4 in the third) to claim the IMC title.

“It was really nervewracking going back and forth the whole time,” Van Kuik said. “My legs were shaking, but we finally got it done. That was a big relief.”

Caldera’s Bradbury-Heinly are girls doubles champs

Despite not playing as doubles partners a year ago, Caldera seniors Reese Bradbury and Alison Heinly were the last team standing in girls doubles on Saturday.

“We just had the mentality to play one point at a time,” Bradbury said. “We were trying really hard to play each point out and play our best for each point.”

During the four matches played, the second-seeded Heinly and Bradbury did not lose a single set en route to the IMC title.

“We came into it thinking that we would prove ourselves on the court,” Heinly said. “I was not surprised that we came away with the title.”

The top four IMC finishers in singles and doubles qualified for the Class 5A state championships.

Each of the four Bend high schools will send a boys singles player to state. Along with Cruz and Berg, Bend sophomore Mika Nader and Mountain View senior Devin Merchant are also headed to state. Nader defeated Merchant in three sets in the third-place match.

Three of the four qualifying boys doubles tandems came from Summit. The duo of seniors Joey Virgillo and Bobby Bloom and seniors Malachi Keel and Gabe Lezotte finished third and fourth in the IMC tournament, respectively.

The Redmond girls will send a pair of doubles teams to state: sophomores Tori and Kelsi Jones finished third, and senior Brooklyn Lindsey and junior Bliss Stelzer placed fourth. Ridgeview senior Darrian Streater and Redmond sophomore Rylie Rosenberg each qualified for state in singles.

Crook County sending several players to state

At the 4A/3A/2A/1A-SD4 Special District 4 championships at Madras High School on Saturday, Crook County senior Victor Corvarrubias won the boys singles title over Sisters junior Dominic Pulver. Both will head to the 4A/3A/2A/1A state tournament, set for Thursday through Saturday at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

The Cowboys claimed the Special District 4 team title.

Crook County seniors Evan Wood and Gregory Hubble won the doubles title over Madras senior Juan Olivera and junior Isidro Olivera. The Crook County doubles team of juniors Hoyt Kudlac and Caleb Decker also qualified for state.

The Crook County girls also won the SD4 team title and will send three singles players and one doubles team to state. Senior Sami Ramos won the singles title over teammate Callie Winebarger. Freshman Gabi Ramos finished fourth. Crook County will also send the doubles team of seniors DeLaney Engestrom and Tayah Hagensee, who finished second, to state.

The Madras doubles team of Yashira Chavaro and Arely Alonso finished fourth to qualify for state.