Nogales girls are the third seed for state 4A Division I tennis, so they had the home court advantage over 14th seed Saguaro on Tuesday. It should have been a cakewalk for the Lady Apaches, but the competition on the No. 1 one doubles court belied that notion. Saguaro’s Spanish exchange student Laura Sanchez and Brett Wilson were giving Fernanda Miller and Maiya Block a hard time. It didn’t prevent the Lady Apaches from advancing to the second round with a 5-1 win, but it made for some good, if knuckle-biting tennis.

Nogales High’s Lucia Suarez returns a volley against Saguaro’s Anna Shangraw during the first round of state playoffs Tuesday at Nogales High School.

In state competition, as compared to the regular season, doubles are played first. Sanchez and Wilson handed Nogales their only loss, 9-7, in the pro-eight doubles. That hard-fought match held up the No. 1 and 2 singles matches from both teams, and allowed the three-through six singles to get a head start.

After Nogales’ No. 2, Lucia Suarez and Greta Solinap defeated Anna Shangraw and Hannah Speers, 8-1, in No. 2 doubles and Yemile Diaz and Vicky Robles defeated Cole and McPheron, 8-4, the singles got underway, while the top doubles were still on the court.

That gave Nogales a 2-0 lead. When Saguaro won the No. 1 doubles, Nogales led 2-1.

“It was a really good doubles match,” Miller said. “We should have won it, but I think we got overconfident and lost it. We were up 30-love, and lost it.”

Overall, Miller said the team did well. “We finished right away with 5-1, so I think that was pretty good.”

The long No. 1 doubles match gave three through six singles a chance to shine, Miller said. “It helped them get started and finish it off for us, so I didn’t have to lose my singles.”

Singles

In singles, Suarez and Solinap defeated their opponents Shangraw and Speers, 6-0, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-0 in quick fashion. It was Suarez’s first time in state competition, but not her first time facing this quality of competition. Suarez, a freshman, is a regular in USTA tennis. “We have a very good team this year,” Suarez said. “I’m doing good. I thought (state competition) was pretty easy for us, so far. If we work at it (state), I’m sure we’ll have a chance at it.”

That left Diaz and Robles facing No. 5 and 6 in singles, while Miller and Block got started against Saguaro’s No. 1 and 2 players, Sanchez and Wilson.

Miller was still having trouble with Saguaro’s Sanchez, having lost the first set, 6-2, when Yemile Diaz got Nogales’ fifth win over Schiller, 6-1, 6-3, ending the match 5-1 for Nogales.

In state competition, after a team wins five sets, the remaining sets get scratched, so Nogales coach Sandra Canchola scratched the Miller/Sanchez (No. 1), Block/Wilson (No. 2) and Robles/Brodie (No. 6) competitions.

Saguaro came in as underdog, but put up a good fight. “The one thing I admire most about this team �“ and sometimes the scores might not reflect it �“ is they put in every match. That’s a tribute to how these girls have done a tremendous job,” Saguaro coach Frank Ruben said.

Saguaro finished 2-12 last season. Ruben is Saguaro’s new coach this year. “Last year, they really struggled. This year, we set some goals, and one of them was to make it to the state tournament. It’s a real reflection of their dedication and their buy-in to having a new coach on board this year,” Ruben said. “They’ve exceeded every expectation I’ve had. They battled every match they had here.”

Canchola said Saguaro’s No. 1, Sanchez, is very good. “She’s ranked in Spain. I understand she’s only here for a year as an exchange student. It encourages kids to go out for USTA and to start playing more tennis.”

Earlier, the Nogales girls finished at the top of the Kino 4A region with a 13-1 record. Their only loss was to Catalina Foothills. They also finished first in regionals last week, beating Sabino for the region title.

The first round of state competition went well, Canchola said. “The team looks really solid. They’re really strong. They’re good with one another and they communicate with each other. That’s sometimes what it takes to win. As a team, I feel really confident that we can go all the way.”

More state competition

The No. 12 seeded Nogales boys lost the team tennis playoffs in the first round to No. 5 seeded Sandra Day O’Connor, 5-1, at Sandra Day O’Connor on Tuesday.

The No. 3 seeded Nogales girls beat No. 14 seeded Saguaro, 5-1, in the first round at Nogales High School Tuesday. The girls are scheduled to play No. 6 Sunnyslope on Tuesday, at 3 p.m. at Nogales High School.

If Nogales wins the second round, they likely will face No. 2 Catalina Foothills, the only team they lost to this season. Catalina Foothills is also scheduled to play No. 10 Prescott at Catalina Foothills Tuesday. That match is set for May 8 at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale.

Additionally, individual singles and doubles state competition is underway.

For the girls, Fernanda Miller (No. 9) faces Cactus Shadows’ Zoe Hoffman (No. 8) at 12:30 p.m. and Lucia Suarez-Greta Solinap (No. 3) face Shadow Mountain’s Ashley Brunk-Hallie Liu (No. 14) at noon today at Paseo Racquet Center.

For the boys, Rafael Camacho-Fernando Villa (No. 15) face Catalina Foothills’ Michael Tringali-Ravi Ram (No. 2) at 2 p.m. today at Paseo Racquet Center.