Johnson/Leavitt Make History At State Doubles

By ELISE DALLEY

The Progress

Sirens and lights led the procession through the Moapa Valley on Saturday, Oct. 28 as the Moapa Valley High School tennis doubles team of Aiden Johnson and Braden Leavitt made their triumphal entry after their success at the state championships in Las Vegas.

Johnson/Leavitt made history last week as the first tennis doubles team to ever win state.
“State was so hype and I’m glad that we won,” Johnson said to The Progress.

Leavitt shared a favorite quote by Kobe Bryant that, he said, helped him through the the challenging matches at the state tournament: ““Dedication makes dreams come true.”

The tournament began with a quarterfinal round on Friday. Johnson/Leavitt went up against Hug in this match, playing tough and beating the opponent 6-2, 6-1.

With the win, the Pirate team advanced to the semifinals on the following day against Churchill County. They won this match easily with a total of 6-1, 6-1.

This meant advancement to the final round against a tough Boulder City team of Pappas/Rose. MVHS Coach Donna Swanson said that the tension was palpable going into this final match.
“They had faced this team before and won,” Swanson said of the Johnson/Leavitt duo. “But time had passed and nerves were a bit ramped.”

Despite this, the stalwart Pirate doubles team stayed focused and beat the Boulder City team 6-2, 6-3. In just two sets, the Pirates became the 2023 3A Boys Doubles Champions and made their mark on school history.

But there was another first for Moapa Valley tennis going into this year’s state tournament. The MVHS girls tennis team qualified to compete in the state playoffs for the first time. The whole school congregated at the busses to cheer for the team and send them off as they headed to the state playoffs on Friday.

Things didn’t fare quite so well for the girls team in the tournament, though. The Pirates began their bracket by playing Truckee High School, the number one seed from the North. These were very tough competitors and the Pirates lost that match, 4-14, to end their season.

But the experience was not lost on the girl. MVHS junior Olivia Dalley said, “It was an amazing experience to go to state for the first year ever! I loved being able to spend time with my teammates and coach, and it gives me even more confidence that we can go to state next year too!”

The Pirate doubles team of Katharina Jaeger and Kaylie Freeman also competed in the individual state playoffs. They were stopped in the first round against a tough Truckee doubles team of Park/Phelan.

Pirate athlete Garrett Hadley also qualified for state in the singles playoffs. Hadley started the tournament with a match against Kiefer Wilcox of Truckee. He lost against Wilcox 6-1, 6-2.
“Moapa played some of their best tennis ever!” commented Coach Swanson. “It was a good day for Moapa!”

The only Virgin Valley tennis player to make it to state competition was Brynn Andrus who qualified for singles competition. Andrus went up against Paige Wilcox of Truckee in the quarterfinal match on Friday afternoon. Andrus lost that match 6-3, 6-3 to end her season.