
Submitted photo – From left to right, Arcata’s Kyra Alway and Aimee Reiner, and Northcoast Prep’s Nai’a Ryman and Alex Riggs at Tuesday’s H-DNL doubles final.
Arcata junior Keona DeArmond capped a dominating season on the local tennis courts with another big showing at the H-DNL singles tennis championships this past weekend, placing first in the No. 1 bracket.
DeArmond, who led the Tigers to an undefeated league campaign, defeated Northcoast Prep’s Nai’a Ryman, 6-0, 6-0, in the championship and will now advance to the North Coast Section singles tournament.
“Keona was locked in,” Arcata head coach Sheldon Heath said. “She wasn’t going to lose a game. She totally dominated.”
The junior standout was one of four Arcata girls to win a singles championship, a group that also included Astreya McKnight, who impressed a lot of onlookers on her way to winning the No. 4 singles title.
“I was really surprised at how well Astreya played,” Heath said. “She just played really solid.”
McKnight defeated Northcoast Prep’s Zoe Osborn, 7-6(7), 6-0, for the title.
Judah White also won for the Tigers at No. 5 singles, defeating Fortuna’s Daisy Martinez, 8-2, in the championship round, while teammate Ila Sommer got the better of Northcoast Prep’s Ayla Weiss, 6-4, 6-3, for the No. 6 singles championship.
Northcoast Prep also won two singles titles.
Alex Riggs got the better of Arcata’s Iris Besmer, 6-3, 6-1, in an exciting No. 2 championship showdown, while teammate Eva DeVoe defeated Arcata’s Jasmine McKnight, 6-1, 6-0, in the No. 3 decider.
The Arcata coach was impressed with the way DeVoe performed.
“That’s the best I’ve seen her play,” he said of the Northcoast Prep standout. “That was really exciting to watch.”
The H-DNL doubles championships also took place on Tuesday after being rained out over the weekend.
And it was more success for the Tigers, with Aimee Reiner and Kyra Alway taking the title and securing a place in the upcoming NCS Doubles Championships.
Reiner and Alway defeated Northcoast Prep’s Ryman and Riggs in the deciding match, 6-0, 6-1.
The Arcata tandem also got the better of St. Bernard’s Maggie Freeman and Alyssa Shin by a score of 6-0, 6-0 in their semifinal matchup.
The Tigers will now advance to three different NCS tournaments, including the team tourney, as well as the singles and doubles tournament.
The Arcata girls will find out on Sunday who their opening round opponent is and whether or not they will get to host.
Categories: Arcata, Fortuna, Northcoast Prep, St. Bernard's, Tennis