Tennis: Arnold girls, Bay boys take aim at regional finals

Doubles pairs in high school tennis often feature one player with more skill than his or her teammate.

Bay coach Kay Kovaleski assured that isn’t the case with Jason Moody and Tyler Barr.

Sure, Moody is a contender for the singles championship in the Class 2A state tournament, but Barr’s postseason success has been just as important to the Tornadoes’ advancement to the Region 1-2A first-round matchup scheduled Tuesday against host Rickards of Tallahassee.

In girls play, Arnold travels to face Wakulla Tuesday in the Region 1-2A opening round.

Moody and Barr will test their individual talents in singles play before pairing up in doubles in hopes of propelling Bay into the regional finals on Thursday. If the two players win each time they step on the court Tuesday, the Tornadoes will have picked up three of the four victories necessary for Bay to oust Rickards and advance as a team another round.

“That was the situation we were in last year, too,” Kovaleski said, noting Moody and Barr already have advanced to state with the District 1-2A doubles championship last week, in addition to Moody’s singles title. “They’d still like to take their buds with them. I anticipate us winning tomorrow at Rickards. I hope we’re not looking beyond. We’ve had some matches this year where we have not played up to our potential.”

Bay swept all five singles matches and both doubles matches against Rickards in the first round of regionals last year.

“I don’t know if they’re different or if they’ve added better people,” Kovaleski said. “Still, I feel we should win. But I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot making some outlandish prediction.”

Barr won the No. 2 singles crown at districts, although the feat didn’t secure a trip to state. Barr and Moody captured a three-set win in the doubles final, however, to cement Barr’s place at state.

“I feel Tyler is playing better doubles this year than last year,” Kovaleski said. “He really wants to win, and he knows how doubles is supposed to be played. He might not make the perfect shot … but he knows the game of doubles so that really helps. He knows the game of doubles well enough that Jason blends right in with him.”

Arnold’s girls, meanwhile, are bouncing back after a second-place team finish in the district tournament. Arnold’s team depth should give the Marlins an edge against Wakulla, the District 2-2A champion.

Marlin netters Bianca Biglione, Tori Pettofrezzo, Emma Moskowitz and Natalia Busuttil were runner-up finishers in singles at districts, and Biglione and Pettofrezzo added a second-place finish in doubles.