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Heartland Tennis Down To The Wire

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Jessica Landers goes low for a forehand winner on Friday during the opening day of the Heartland Conference tennis tournament at Sun 'N Lake.

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Highlands Today Staff Report

Published: March 8, 2009

AVON PARK - Abhi Seetharamiah sat on a hot bench in the midday warmth and watched his Sebring teammates labor through their opening-round matches on Friday at the opening day of the Heartland Conference tennis tournament at the sun-soaked courts of South Florida Community College.

Seetharamiah's opening match was no sweat, as he cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Avon Park's Mitchell Guerndt and moved into the finals.

"Avon Park's a young team and they're working hard," Seetharamiah said. "I was feeling good, and it was a nice warm-up for me because I'm working on minimizing unforced errors.

"I'm not focusing too much on shot work, things are probably as good as I can get there. I'm just working on consistency and keeping the ball in play so I can have a clean game."

Things didn't go as easily for Avon Park No. 1 Angie Carillo, who dropped her first set but came back to earn a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Frostproof's Jade Wise to reach the finals on the girls side, which is being played at Sun 'N Lake.

"I'm optimistic," Carillo said. "I knew it was best two-out-of-three, so when I lost the first one I was confident I could come back. This is my senior year and I want to win."

The two-day tournament team titles came down to Saturday's doubles matches in both the boys and girls events and the results were not available at press time.

Be sure to check out Monday's Highlands Today sports section for complete story, pictures and results.

In the boys tournament, Seetharamiah faced Frostproof's Tyler Heath in the finals after Heath knocked off Hardee's Joe Porter, 6-0, 6-0.

In No. 2 singles, Sebring junior Mike Reed cruised into the finals by beating Lake Placid's Andy Olivares, 6-2, 6-3.

Reed played Frostproof senior Charlie Hurst in the finals, after Hurst beat Avon Park's Nolan Jahna, 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 3 singles, Sebring junior Kyle Komisar breezed into the finals by defeating Hardee's Kyle Bodeck, 6-0, 6-1.

Lake Placid's Michael Trujillo faced Komisar in the finals after beating Avon Park's Mike Hill, 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.

At No. 4 singles, Sebring's Nikhil Raghuveera eased into the finals against Hardee's Dusty Spears.

Raghveera beat Jay Barker of Frostproof, 6-1, 6-1.

At No. 5 singles, Sebring's Vihang Nikhate moved into Saturday's finals by edging Tyler Harnage of Frostproof, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

Nikhate met Lake Placid's Michael Sweat in the final.

At No. 1 doubles, Heath and Hurst of Frostproof moved on and in No. 2 doubles, Sebring's Spencer Caton and Chris Horta slipped past Lake Placid's Jacob Underwood and Sweat, 6-1, 6-0.

In the girls tournament, Carillo faced Sebring's Kelsie Johnson in the No. 1 singles final and Blue Streak freshman Kaley Walter moved in to the No. 2 singles final after getting past Avon Park's Kayla Lockhart, 6-1, 6-1.

The rest of the matches were not complete at press time and for the complete story and photos, see Monday's Highlands Today sports section.

The Highlands Today sports staff can be reached at 863-386-5841 or sports@highlandstoday.com. Visit www.highlandstoday.com/sports.

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