PREP TENNIS
State tennis: Academy sweeps A-4A titles as Farmington sends Pat McGrath off on top
The Chargers girls won their 15th blue trophy, this one without legendary coach Amy Badger
Published
Modified
Amadeus Lopez knew well in advance what Saturday would look like.
The Albuquerque Academy assistant knew he would be filling in for Amy Badger, the Chargers鈥� longtime girls tennis coach and 鈥渇earless leader.鈥� With the 26-year veteran attending her daughter鈥檚 graduation, the staffer of two-and-a-half years knew a 鈥渓ong, long time ago鈥� that it was his show to run at Jerry Cline Tennis Complex.
All with a state team title 鈥� Academy鈥檚 seventh in a row 鈥� on the line.
The advance notice didn鈥檛 make it much easier.
鈥淚t was,鈥� he admitted, 鈥渁 little stressful.鈥�
In the end, there wasn鈥檛 much for the Chargers to stress over.
Top-seeded Academy overcame an early doubles deficit to beat No. 2 Espa帽ola Valley 5-3 for its seventh straight A-4A title, capping another undefeated season for one of the state鈥檚 most dominant programs.
The Chargers came back to win after trailing 2-1 following three doubles matches against a strong Sundevil team.
Academy has won an A-4A record 15 blue trophies. That includes a division-best 10 under Badger and now one with Lopez leading the way.
In crediting his team鈥檚 response, Lopez singled out Academy鈥檚 eighth graders 鈥� Ava Silverman, Cate Hedges, Sadye Bruce and Beatrice Lorenz 鈥� for rising to the moment.
鈥淭hey haven鈥檛 experienced this amount of pressure when it comes to the state tournament,鈥� Lopez said, 鈥渨here there鈥檚 hundreds of people, tons of cheering, that kind of thing. They came out and got the job done.鈥�
Lopez said Saturday will be a day he鈥檒l look back on fondly, but declined to participate in his team鈥檚 mock champagne celebration (they used Pellegrino sparkling water).
鈥淭hey tried,鈥� he chuckled. 鈥淭hey wanted to spray me with it.鈥�
Academy鈥檚 boys also won a state title and coach Mike Smolskis wasn鈥檛 so lucky during the celebration 鈥� he got doused with Pellegrino.
The Chargers battled through a stiff test from Los Alamos to claim a record-extending 23rd-straight A-4A title, the first for Smolskis.
Hired in January to replace Tim Cass, Smolskis said the Chargers鈥� 5-2 win over the Hilltoppers was one of the toughest the program鈥檚 had to face in 鈥渜uite some time.鈥�
鈥淭hey definitely had us on the edge of our seats most of the time,鈥� Academy assistant Ryan Tommasi added. 鈥淚t was definitely not an easy watch at times 鈥� they gave us a run for our money.鈥�
5A: In the boys bracket, second-seeded La Cueva beat No. 4 Albuquerque High 5-1 for its seventh straight title and second under coach Michael Tran.
The La Cueva alum said his team had a 鈥渓ittle chip鈥� on its shoulder after losing to the Bulldogs in the metro tournament. Winning this blue trophy, he added, meant a little bit more than last year鈥檚 after taking over for program legend Dick Johnson.
鈥淭he first one, it was nice,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut this is the one where it feels like it鈥檚 my team. 鈥� Now it feels like, 鈥極K, we built this.鈥� Now it鈥檚 something we鈥檙e really proud of and worked really hard for.鈥�
In the girls bracket, top-seeded Farmington beat No. 6 Santa Fe High 5-1 to send retiring coach Pat McGrath off with a second straight title.
The nine-time state champion coach said his team didn鈥檛 gel well at the start of the season but rounded into form over the last few weeks, culminating in a strong showing Saturday. McGrath added that the Demonettes鈥� hard-fought, gritty 5-4 win over Sandia in the semifinals was 鈥渙ne of the things鈥� that helped the Scorpions go back-to-back.
鈥淭he other one for us is, we played very good doubles to get a 2-0 lead,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we really made very few mistakes, now that I think of it 鈥� we didn鈥檛 double-fault, we didn鈥檛 miss returning our serves. We played very efficient.鈥�
One of the most accomplished coaches in state history, an emotional McGrath joked it would take 鈥渁bout an hour鈥� for the finality of Saturday鈥檚 accomplishment to set in.
鈥淭he one thing I鈥檝e told people before is, you remember all your losses,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd when you lose, you think, 鈥榃hat could I have done differently?鈥� And these are so satisfying because you don鈥檛 have to think that.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 just, 鈥楬ey, we did it,鈥欌�� he said with a smile.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
