LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School singles player Dillon Fulks, No. 2 in the qualifying matches, beat Island School’s Michael Fitzgerald, top seed in the matches, on Friday for the second time during this year’s Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation tennis season at the Kaua‘i High School tennis courts.
The 6-0, 6-4 victory over the Voyager pushed second-seeded Fulks to the Central Pacific Bank KIF Boys Singles champion.
Kaua‘i High School tennis coach Jennifer Hreljac said all of the finalists, who qualified for the 2024 Island Insurance Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association state tournament, were from Kaua‘i High and Island School.
“Kaua‘i High School is taking eight players to states and Island School qualified four players, including Michael Fitzgerald,” Hreljac said.
Joining Fulks at the state tournament is freshman and tournament unseeded Laney Carvalho, who defeated Island School’s Lillah Hamid 4-6, 6-3 in an injury retirement for the CPB KIF girls singles title. This was after a three-hour semifinal match where Hamid got past visiting exchange student Nelli Kern 6-4, 6-3 in a match plagued with rain delays.
Carvalho outlasted No. 2 seed Raine Hannsz of Kapa‘a to advance to the finals of the match, where the top four seeds were eliminated, including Hamid downing top seed Madi Welsh of Island School.
Carvalho also downed the No. 3 seed Ocean Amador in the quarterfinals and Kern defeated the No. 4 seed Chloe Hannsz in the quarterfinals.
Kaua‘i High School added four more players to the state-bound roster when the duo of Mia Marty and Taylee Yoshimoto took the girls doubles title by defeating Savannah Hubbard and Maddison Hubbard 6-1, 6-3.
On the boys doubles court, the Red Raiders added its final pair of state-bound players in Issac Mirey and Rasil Manandhar, who fell to Island School’s duo of Pablo Navedo-Espejo and Nachi Elzaurdia 6-3, 6-3.
Hreljac said the state qualifiers also make up the KIF All Stars for tennis.
The state tennis tournament will be contested from May 9 through 11 at Central O‘ahu Regional Park.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
