WACO — Top-ranked Frisco Centennial blanked Austin LASA 10-0 Wednesday morning in the UIL Class 5A team tennis state semifinals, sending the defending state champion Titans to the state final for the third year in a row.
Centennial will face Abilene Wylie at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Baylor University.
Being the last high school standing out of Frisco is a huge accomplishment every year, and 2024 was no exception. In the playoffs, Centennial knocked off Frisco rivals Lone Star, Wakeland and Independence — as well as McKinney North and Corsicana — to reach the state tournament.
Despite being battle-tested, the Titans came out with some early nerves. Both boys No. 1 doubles and girls No. 1 doubles featured close first sets.
“There were a little bit of jitters early on,” head coach Douglas Fair said, “but we play big matches all the time. When we keep the energy and effort level up, we are really tough to beat. For the most part, I thought we did that today.”
At No. 1 boys doubles, Akshay Kommineni and Rohan Sheth were down 3-2 in the first set, but broke serve to make it 3-3. The teams stayed on serve until 6-5, when Kommineni and Sheth broke serve again to win the first set.
Centennial dominated the second set. A second serve ace by Sheth at 4-0, 15-0 showed LASA’s frustration, and Kommineni and Sheth went on to win 6-0.
In girls No. 1 doubles, Noa Kosman and Akriti Bhati found themselves trailing 5-2 in their first set. They came storming back to win 7-5, winning on a perfectly executed serve by Bhati in I-formation. They then won the second set 6-2 to take the match.
Centennial emerged from doubles play leading 7-0, meaning they only needed three wins in singles. Those three victories came from Rayaan Altaf, Trudi Kosman and Bhati.
“In team tennis, things can change real quick,” Fair said. “if you put a little score-pressure on a team, it will impact those matches going forward. We did a good job of hanging in there and getting a good lead.”
In the regular season, Centennial knocked off Class 6A semifinalists Allen and Katy Seven Lakes. Their only blemishes were to Plano West and Fort Bend Clements. Noa Kosman said playing such a challenging regular-season schedule makes a difference in the state tournament.
“Fighting to get here was such a huge battle for us,” Kosman, a senior, said. “In Frisco, you know everyone and play everyone constantly, both in school tennis and outside of school tennis. I am really proud of our team. Everyone is putting in 100 percent effort and stepping up.”
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