KAILUA-KONA — It was business as usual at the BIIF tennis championships Saturday afternoon as Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s JJ Minakata and Hilo’s Emily Soares picked up straight set victories over their opponents to claim the boys and girls’ titles for the 2015 season.
KAILUA-KONA — It was business as usual at the BIIF tennis championships Saturday afternoon as Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s JJ Minakata and Hilo’s Emily Soares picked up straight set victories over their opponents to claim the boys and girls’ titles for the 2015 season.
Minakata — who had not dropped a set all season — took the first set off Parker’s Tim Schnorr in dominating 6-3 fashion. However, the hard hitting German jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the second set behind a pounding serve and long rallies. Schnorr was in prime position to take the second set but Minakata rolled off five straight points for a 6-4 win.
“I started bad in the beginning of the second set, but my teammates pushed me and cheered me on and that helped me come back,” Minakata said. “I was able to break one of his serves to make it 2-4, and was able to get into a rhythm.”
On a nearby court, Soares, who won her first two matches of the tournament without dropping a point, got more of a challenge from Konawaena’s Tayvia Yamagata, but the match was never in doubt. Soares won 6-0, 6-2.
“My serves were pretty good today,” Soares said. “I just played my consistent game and she just made the errors.”
Soares also became a two-time BIIF singles champion and after claiming the crown two years ago. She is now a three time overall champion after claiming the doubles title last season with her sister. Despite the transitions, she never dropped a beat.
Both Soares and Minakata have lofty expectations heading into the state tournament but know the road will not be easy.
“It is going tough,” Soares said. “Those are the people I play with in junior tournaments and I will have to work hard.”
As for Minakata, HPA coach Jeff Lewis believes he can go deep into the tourney.
“There is no limit to what JJ can do,” Lewis said. “If he does everything right and has a good tournament, then he can win it.”
Doubles
The boys and girls’ doubles championship matches were much more competitive than the singles matches, with both needing three sets to be decided.
In the boys competition, Konawaena’s Brant Yamamoto and Tresen Arakaki outlasted Hawaii Prep’s Jake Frogley and Wayne Tan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
“Brant and Tresen were able to overcome their self doubt and gain confidence this season,” Konawaena coach Richard Kahalioumi said. “They had really good chemistry despite this being only their first year together. They were able to dominant the net against two guys that were both over six feet. It can be hard to take the net away from big guys.”
The boys’ championship match was a bit of a mystery because the two squads did not face off during the regular season, but Konawaena’s Arakaki knew that if he and his partner played their best, they would come out with a win.
The Wildcat duo came out strong in the first set, but suffered a setback as HPA tied the match at 1-1.
“In the second set we started making more errors and did not give ourselves the opportunities to put the ball away,” Arakaki said.
“In the third set we corrected ourselves and set each other up to put the balls away,” Yamamoto added. “When we hit the shots we normally make, we can be tough to beat.”
In the girls double competition, Waiakea’s Marissa Hayashi and Jordan Melchor edged out Konawaena’s Nikki Kunitomo and Kira Ekstrom 6-4, 6-7 (7-2), 6-2.
The win was the culmination of a long road for the Warrior seniors. Both played together as freshmen but Melchor did not play her sophomore or junior year so she could concentrate on soccer. In her absence, Hayashi finished second in her sophomore year and third last year. However, the duo joined forces once again for their senior seasons and their hard work paid off in a touch match with Konawaena.
“They were tough opponents. They could hit, they could volley, they could overhead, it just came down to getting to the ball and how bad we wanted it,” Melcher said.
“It was not easy, and I wasn’t playing well early on, but I wanted to win so bad after four years that I played really well in the last set,” Hayashi added.
Both girls were very emotional after the win, and could not hold back their tears of joy.
“I finished my senior year strong, and it feels wonderful,” Hayashi said.
“We have known each other since we were babies and it feels great to win with tour best friend beside you,” Melcher added.
Both Melcher and Hayashi did not lose a match all season.