Prep tennis | Lakewood Ranch girls begin state title defense with district championship

SARASOTA -- At this time in 2015, Lakewood Ranch was perfect. The Mustangs had developed into a Florida powerhouse on their way to an eventual state championship with an undefeated regular season and an unassailable top of the roster. The district tournament was just a formality on the way to a historic season.

For a variety of reasons, Ranch's 2016 regular season has been uneven. Lakewood Ranch finished just 8-7 after losing seven of its last nine matches. Players were in and out of the lineup because of illness, external tennis obligations and other extracurricular activities at Lakewood Ranch.

"We've got to be the best 8-7 team in the state," Mustangs head coach Ed Bongart said.

When Ranch has a full lineup, Bongart believes the Mustangs are still one of the best teams in the state.

The Class 4A-District 8 tournament was one of those few instances when Ranch was whole, and Lakewood Ranch delivered with an overwhelming win in Sarasota.

All seven Mustang singles players or doubles teams reached the finals Thursday at the Bath & Racquet Fitness Club, and three won individual district titles to ensure Ranch a home match in the Class 4A-Region 4 semifinals on Tuesday.

Freshman Gia Cohen, one of three newcomers in Lakewood Ranch's five-player singles lineup, led the Mustangs with a win at No. 1 singles, fellow freshman Grace Hagopian added a win at No. 3 and junior Sara Benson earned a victory at No. 4 after losing in the district meet last season.

Neither the boys nor girls team for Manatee moved anyone on to next week, and the Ranch boys fell short of advancing, too.

St. Petersburg and Sarasota Riverview took the top two spots.

Lakewood Ranch will host Clearwater Countryside in the region semifinal Tuesday at Lakewood Ranch High School.

A win would move the Mustangs within one win of a return to the Class 4A tournament. Cohen has already clinched her first trip.

This season was going to have to be some sort of rebuild for Ranch. The Mustangs went undefeated on their way to a Class 3A title in 2015 with an irreplaceable 1-2 punch.

Ashley Bongart, now at Tennessee, was Ranch's No. 1 and the classifications individual doubles champion.

Lauren Proctor, now at Winthrop, was Lakewood Ranch's No. 2 and might have been the second best player in the state.

Cohen knew about the Mustangs' recent success when Ed Bongart named her Ranch's No. 1 singles player this season.

"Before I knew anybody I wondered what other people would think," Cohen said. "I don't go to the school, I'm a freshman, I'm playing No. 1. I was just thinking, 'Ooh, what do people think of that?' It was a little bit of pressure."

Her win in Thursday's district final guaranteed her a trip to Altamonte Springs no matter how the Mustangs fare as a team next week. Individual district champions from teams which don't qualify for the state tournament are place in a separate

field to contend for an individual state title.

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Prep tennis | Lakewood Ranch girls begin state title defense with district championship ."