UIL State Tennis
Zein, Sriniketh capture singles State Championships
Joshua Koch
May 23, 2018, 8:32 pm
COLLEGE STATION - Heading into the day there was no doubt that Houston would be walking away with gold.
The Class 6A girls and boys singles title matches had Houston-area talent on both sides of the net.
Fort Bend Dulles' Marlee Zein followed in her older sister Miriam's footsteps and won the 6A Girls Singles State Championship in her senior season with a 6-3, 6-2 straight-set victory against Cypress Ranch's Melissa LaMette.
"Personally I just think it's really cool because it's for my school," Zein said. "It represents my school. All of the people were cheering for me back at home. It just makes it that much more important. It's exciting."
The last time Dulles tennis won a girls singles state title was in 2012 when Miriam Zein accomplished the feat.
Marlee, who is signed to go to the University of Florida, leaves Dulles as a two-time state medalist. In her freshman year she took silver in girls singles, then stepped away from high school tennis for her sophomore and junior years before returning this season.
"We're all very proud of her," Fort Bend Dulles coach Patty Priddy said. "She's worked very hard for a very long time. You don't get the ratings she does without doing that."
Marlee is the first girl to win a singles title since Clear Lake's Janice Shin in 2014.
On the boys side it was a rematch of the Region III-6A title match as Katy Tompkins' Anish Sriniketh and Pearland Dawson's Kevin Zhu collided.
The duo took the match to a decisive third set but just like in the regional final, Sriniketh was able to best Zhu taking the match 2-1 (7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3).
Sriniketh is the first-ever tennis player from Tompkins, boy or girl, to capture a tennis state title.
"It just means a lot," Sriniketh said. "We're a really new school, this is our fifth year, so it's great to be the first one to do anything to be honest. It's just a great feeling."
Sriniketh, who didn't make it out of the District 19-6A tennis tournament last season, used the disappointment from that to fuel his title run this year.
In the regional final against Zhu, Sriniketh didn't take a set from him but that wasn't the story on Friday.
"Today was unbelievable," Sriniketh said. "I believed in myself and wow. I'm speechless actually."
Sriniketh is the first boy from Houston to win a singles title since Stratford's Josh Holloway did it in 2015 capturing the 5A boys singles state title.
This is the first time since 2014 that Houston has captured the UIL's highest classification's girls and boys singles titles. Shin and Katy Taylor's Peter Leung won the 5A girls and boys singles state championship that season, respectively.
The Houston Astros return to Daikin Park on Friday night looking to end a three-game home losing streak as they open a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels.
Ronel Blanco takes the mound for Houston, aiming to bounce back after a rough start to his season. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 9.45 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP through his first two outings. He’ll be opposed by Angels rookie Jack Kochanowicz, who has impressed early with a 3.27 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and eight strikeouts.
The Astros enter the night at 5-7, sitting third in the AL West and still searching for offensive consistency. Despite the team’s slow start, Jose Altuve has been a bright spot, hitting .333 with three homers in his last 10 games. Yordan Alvarez, though still looking for his power stroke to fully emerge, has contributed eight RBI.
Houston will need a stronger showing at the plate to keep pace with a hot Angels squad that has won seven of its last 10. Los Angeles ranks fourth in MLB in slugging (Houston is dead last) and is led by Kyren Paris and Logan O’Hoppe, who have combined for 10 home runs over the last 10 games. The Angels have gone 6-3 on the road and are currently second in the AL West.
This is the first meeting of the season between the division rivals. The Astros are 2-1 this year when scoring five or more runs but have struggled in lower-scoring games. Meanwhile, the Angels have outscored their opponents by 15 runs over their last 10 contests.
Here's a look at the Astros lineup for Game 1:
Screenshot via: MLB.com
Shaking things up
Brendan Rodgers is hitless in his last eight at-bats, so Joe Espada is hoping Mauricio Dubon can give the offense a spark as he's hitting ninth and playing second base.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. EDT.
The Astros projected starters for the series:
Friday-Blanco
Saturday-Ryan Gusto
Sunday-Hayden Wesneski
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