By Richard Smith
West Valley Preps

For most of the last four years, any mentions of Shadow Ridge boys tennis elicited a two-word response … Carlos Hassey.

Sure, the Stallions earned a spot in the Division II team playoffs in 2015. But even that bid and subsequent first round exit was eclipsed by Hassey’s individual state title.

This year the Stallions tennis team was one of only four sports at the school to join the state’s big school division (in this case Division I). Now with its best team yet around Hassey, Shadow Ridge is likely two wins away from a playoff berth among Arizona’s elite.



“It is always a challenge playing against the best schools in the state. It is an honor to represent the West Valley. We have worked very hard over the past six years to build a solid program,” Coach Scott Bergeron said. “To be a dominant force in Division I would be an amazing accomplishment for a school that opened eight years ago with 400 kids. We just need to keep our fingers crossed and think positive that we will make the top 16 come Friday.”

The Stallions plays at Ironwood Tuesday afternoon. They finish the season a little early on Thursday by hosting Centennial.

Entering with a 10-2 record, Shadow Ridge was a heavy favorite in both matches. While the program did not have anyone at Hassey’s level join, a deep group of sophomores and a freshman has shored up things behind him.

“We added two solid players to our line-up this year. Tyler Baron (freshman) and Ty Fischer (sophomore) are two great additions to our roster. They have added some much needed depth. (Sophomore) Rei Karki, our No. 2, worked hard during the off-season to improve his game remarkably,” Bergeron said.

Hassey has a unique presence on this team as the senior prepares to play for the University of Arizona. The son of Carlos Hassey Sr., tennis pro at The Wigwam resort in Litchfield Park, has an “insane,” amount of practice every day, Karki said.

That schedule and top youth level commitment mean Hassey may not always be there for practices or even matches. The team’s only freshman said Hassey’s knowledge of the sport has helped the younger players.

“He’ll talk us about a lot of stuff. If he sees stuff we’re doing in the match, he’ll talk to us and help us get better at it,” Baron said.

Hassey’s absence factored into Shadow Ridge’s two losses in different ways. He missed the 6-3 loss to Mountain Ridge on March 30, so Karki and Baron and their teammates had to move up a spot.

Even without Hassey, Valley Vista was a winnable match for the team. But a lineup error forced the Stallions to forfeit.

“Valley was a mistake that I made as a coach. Carlos was not there for this match, so I placed my alternate in the 1 spot and left my No. 2-No. 6 in their normal spots. What I should have done was move my players all up one spot,” Coach Bergeron said. “The Valley coach was upset with what I did and wrote a formal complaint that we violated a bylaw. There is a bylaw that is written stating that is the rule. Lesson learned and something that I will not do in the future.”

Still, depth is far less of an issue for the program than in previous years.

Bergeron said last year the Stallions lost some key players and had to move some players up and challenge them. This year, some solid tennis players joined the program.

“Some of them learned tennis in two weeks,” Karki said. “More people are playing tennis. We didn’t even have a JV team last year.”

As difficult as the loss against Mountain Ridge was, it came two weeks after the Stallions defining victory, a 5-4 win at previously undefeated Liberty.

Heading down the stretch, all three of those teams are on the playoff bubble. Shadow Ridge entered the week ranked No. 14, while Liberty was No. 13 and Mountain Ridge No. 16.
There are 16 playoff bids, but Division I could have two region champions ranked below 16 steal bids.

“Liberty was a great match. They have an outstanding program. This was one of those matches where the team that shows up ready to play that day will win. As a team what we learned from both matches was our team cannot always rely on our best player to pull us through the season. We must work as a team and get it done,” Bergeron said.