Cy-Fair Roundup: Lundquist, others take next step to state tourney

Cy Ranch junior Amy Lundquist repeated as the 17-5A girls singles champion, and earned her third consecutive region tennis berth, during the district tournament at Cy Woods High School last week.

Second-seed Lundquist downed freshman teammate Courtney McWilliams 6-1, 6-3 in the finals after McWilliams upset No. 1 seed Natalie Chu, a senior from Jersey Village, in three sets in the semifinals.

"I guess it was a surprise to face someone else from our team in the finals, but it was great that we were both there and advanced to regionals," Lundquist said. "I feel like I played really well at district even though there was maybe a little bit of a target on me after winning last year.

"I'm looking to improve on last season's fourth place at regionals, and it will be in a different region (III) this spring (Cy Ranch was in Region II last year)."

Lundquist was a region qualifier in girls doubles as a freshman during Cy Ranch's first-ever season in 2009.

The Cy Ranch mixed doubles team of freshman Teja Birudala and sophomore Logan Harper placed second at the District 17-5A Tournament to earn a regional berth.

The Cy-Fair ISD athletic Web site originally reported the Langham Creek duo of freshman Babrielle Cabangon and junior Phi Nguyen had finished second in 17-5A mixed doubles, but Birudala and Harper downed Cabangon and Nguyen in a playback match to grab the runner-up spot and move on to the 5A Region III Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19-20, in Deer Park

Also capturing 17-5A tennis titles and region berths were Langham Creek junior Steve McMullan in boys singles; the Cy Falls boys doubles team of senior Shaan Patel and junior Zachary Salinas; the Cy-Fair girls doubles team sophomores Emily Garrett and Erika Holum; and the Cy Falls mixed doubles team juniors Amanda Barrington and Connor White.

Second places and additional region invitations went to Cy Ridge sophomore Anuj Singh in boys singles; Cy Woods seniors Benjamin Groff and Richard Newton in boys doubles; and Cy-Fair senior Allyson Barnett and junior Gabriella Jansson in girls doubles.

The 5A Region III Tournament is Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19-20, in Deer Park with participants going for spots at the University Interscholastic League State Tournament on May 9-10 in Austin.

Volleyball honor list

Ten area volleyball players have been named to the PrepVolleyball.com list of best sophomores (2011 rising juniors) in the nation with Cy Woods setter Chloe Collins in the top 79.

Joining Collins on the first 79 are Clear Creek outside hitter Ashley Smith, Friendswood outside hitter Jill Bergeson and Magnolia outside hitter Kylie Randall.

Cy Woods libero Tori Arenas and Clear Creek setter Courtney Richardson are on the highest honorable mention list comprising the next 70 players, and Clear Lake middle blocker Sarah Strasner and setter Sam Volk, Fort Bend Travis setter MacKenzie Hail and Bellaire middle blocker Jenelle Jordan are also among the 515 total sophomores on seven ranking levels.

District 17-5A softball

Cy-Fair has clinched the 17-5A softball championship and will advance as the district's No. 1 seed into the Class 5A Region III playoffs that begin May 2-3.

The scramble for the other three postseason spots involves Cy Ranch, Cy Lakes, Cy Woods and Jersey Village, and Cy Creek just might have something to say about it, too.

Some of the top matchups down the stretch are Cy-Fair at Cy Ranch at 6 p.m. Friday, April 15; Cy Woods at Cy Lakes and Jersey Village at Cy-Fair at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19; and Cy Lakes at Cy Ranch at 6 p.m. on April 21, the final night of league play barring bad weather.