Girls tennis playoffs: Morgan, Ogden fight and fall in 3A semifinals
-
- Bernice Winn of Ogden pictured during the 3A girls tennis state championships at Liberty Park Tennis Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
-
- Morgan’s Taylen Adams and Devaney Barney pictured during the 3A girls tennis state championships at Liberty Park Tennis Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
-
- Sage Ordyna of Morgan pictured during the 3A girls tennis state championships at Liberty Park Tennis Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
-
- Vyvian Bailey of Morgan pictured during the 3A girls tennis state championships at Liberty Park Tennis Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
-
- Morgan’s Chloe Dutson and Rylee Telford pictured during the 3A girls tennis state championships at Liberty Park Tennis Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s 3A girls tennis state championships were unkind to the semifinalists from Morgan and Ogden High, which fielded contenders up and down the sheet on Saturday at the Liberty Park Tennis Center.
Among the top doubles pairings in the state, Morgan junior Devaney Barney and sophomore Taylen Adams, the No. 2 seed in first doubles, were the last locals to leave the court following a 2-0 loss to No. 3 Annie Pearson and Brekyn Larkin of American Heritage (7-5, 6-2).
On the northern court, teammates Chloe Dutson and Rylee Telford, Morgan’s senior duo in second doubles, won just two sets in a semifinal loss to Rowland Hall’s Ada Tyser and Fiona Kean (6-0, 6-2).
Likewise, Ogden’s lone semifinalist, Bernice Winn, fell from the board in singles to begin the morning 0-3 en route to a local sweep.
Morgan singles duo falters
Top-three seeds Vyvian Bailey, No. 2 in first singles, and Sage Ordyna, No. 3 in second singles, fell in their respective matches on Saturday in the opening matches of the day.
Grantsville’s Mya Orgill, the No. 3 seed, rode a hot start to defeat Bailey (6-0, 6-3) and reach the finals against Scarlett Corey of Rowland Hall. Bailey finished her junior campaign 36-21 overall.
Teammate Sage Ordyna took four total sets from Grantsville’s Annalee Nelson, the No. 2 seed, in Morgan’s second loss (6-1, 6-3) on the day. Ordyna, only a sophomore, closes her campaign 42-24 overall.
“You just have to really stay tough with your emotions,” Ordyna said. “You really need to separate your emotions from the game.”
Young Winn impresses in state debut
Only a sophomore, Bernice Winn, the No. 4 seed in third singles, defended her first-round bye in reaching the semifinals on Saturday.
Winn, taking down North Sanpete’s Claire Pehrson in the Round of 16 and staging a gritty comeback to defeat Juab’s Peyton Lynn (6-4, 7-5) on Friday, finished her state debut one match shy of the finals on Saturday.
Ogden’s young semifinalist fell to Rowland Hall’s Avalon O’Connell (6-2, 6-2), the No. 1 seed in third singles, to close her season 36-4 overall for the Tigers.
“I was just trying to keep my mental game up,” Winn said. “Her hard shots down the line got me.”
It’s been an unconventional tennis season for Ogden, too, with an early-season coaching change unraveling in August.
Rising to her opportunity, Winn leaves Tigers parent-volunteer-coach Adam Belnap, the father of Ogden state qualifiers Bree and Kimi Belnap, optimistic about her future on the court.
“She just took the third singles and just really improved,” Belnap said. “She showed good power; I think she had some long rallies and an all-around game against a tough opponent.”
6A, 4A matches up next
With 5A and 3A’s chances exhausted, it’s now up to Northern Utahns in the 6A and 4A state championships to make a little noise.
There are 34 combined players in the mix, including 14 singles players between the 6A and 4A brackets.
Action resumes with 6A’s Round of 32 on Thursday, Oct. 8, and 4A follows suit on Friday, Oct. 9, at the Liberty Park Tennis Center in Salt Lake City.
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
