USTA Missouri Valley Rally in the Valley Championships Recap

To watch a highlight video of the Rally in the Valley Championships, click here. To view a photo album, click here.

 

The prestigious USTA Missouri Valley Rally in the Valley Championships—formally named Sweet 16—took place during an action-packed four days at Edmond Center Court in Edmond, Okla. The Level 3 closed tournament featured many of the top junior boys’ and girls’ competitors from the USTA Missouri Valley battling it out in the Oklahoma heat and wind. Check out our recap of the championships below!

 

Boys’ Singles

 

No. 1-seeded Lawson Prather (USTA Oklahoma) didn’t drop a set en route to capturing the Boys’ 18s singles championship. He topped No. 2 seed Trenton Kanchanakomtorn 6-3, 6-4 in an all-Oklahoma final. Prather, who has committed to play at Rollins College (Fla.) in the fall, battled breezy conditions in the championship.

“It was rough playing in the wind, and Trenton had an underhand serve and it was phenomenal,” Prather said. “It caught me off guard. I ended up pulling through at the end, so I’m happy with that.”

 

In Boys’ 16s singles, No. 2 seed Anish Poojari (USTA Heart of America) claimed a three-set thriller over No. 3-seeded Dutch Prather (USTA Oklahoma), 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.

 

“Getting the name on the banner, that’s a big one,” Poojari said. “It’s a fun tournament.”

 

USTA Oklahoma’s Walker Nelson double-dipped at Rally in the Valley, capturing both the Boys’ 14s singles and doubles championships. The unseeded Nelson didn’t drop a set until the singles finale, when he came through with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 result against No. 2 seed Damian Gutheil (USTA Heart of America).

 

The Boys’ 12s championship featured a long, intense matchup between No. 1 Taylor Goates (USTA Kansas) and No. 3 Samarth Gandhari (USTA Heart of America). Gandhari gutted his way to a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 13-11 victory to capture the title.

 

Girls’ Singles

 

The two top-seeded players in the Girls’ 18s draw—No. 1 Emerey Gross (USTA St. Louis) and No. 2 Sydney Fuger (USTA Heart of America)—were on a collision course to set up a showdown. Neither Gross nor Fuger, who has committed to attend the United States Naval Academy, dropped a set before their championship clash. Gross bested Fuger in the final 6-4, 5-7, 10-1.

 

Gross’s younger sister, Adelyn Gross, didn’t concede a set and didn’t lose four games within any one set on her romp to the championship. The No. 2-seeded Adelyn Gross (USTA St. Louis) defeated her good friend, top-seeded USTA Heart of America player Ava Beltran, to earn the Girls’ 16s singles crown with a 6-3, 6-3 result.

 

“This tournament was very well-run, and they had a lot of fun snacks,” Adelyn Gross said. “The officials were very good and fair.”

 

USTA St. Louis kept it rolling on the girls’ side, as London Evans cruised to her second consecutive Rally in the Valley championship. Evans lost a combined total of just 11 games across four matches to win the Girls’ 14s bracket after winning the Girls’ 12s division in 2023. This year, Evans bested unseeded Sophia Gooch (USTA Oklahoma) 6-1, 6-4 in the title match.

 

“The first set, I played really well. My serve started off kind of slow, but it got better as the match went on,” Evans said. “Second set, I was making a lot of unforced errors. She played better, and I was having a tough time adjusting to that.”

 

The Girls’ 12s final was an all-Graves duel, as the twin sisters from USTA Heart of America—who paired up to win the doubles championship—faced off. No. 2-seeded Emma Graves got by her sister, unseeded Lily Graves, by a 6-3, 7-5 margin.

 

Singles champions on both the boys’ and girls’ ledger received a US Open poster signed by St. Louis-based artist Chelsey Farris. The 18s singles champions, Lawson Prather and Emerey Gross, received a hand-painted plate by a local Native American artist. It was a similarly designed trophy to what was handed out at the North American Indian Tennis Association (NAITA) Championships at Edmond Center Court last month.

 

Boys’ Doubles

 

In Boys’ 18s action, No. 2-seeded Micah Ward (USTA Heart of America) and Seth Smigel (USTA Iowa) defeated No. 1 John Varley/Rocco Regnier of USTA St. Louis by an 8-5 score line. In Boys’ 16s, TJ Shanahan/Dutch Prather beat Taytum Jones/JohnPaul Huston 8-5 in an all-Oklahoma battle.

 

Boys’ 14s singles champion Walker Nelson teamed with Amir Khicha (USTA Kansas) to slip by Henry Waddell (USTA Iowa) and Peter Choi (USTA Oklahoma), 8-6.

 

“It shows we’re one of the top players in the section, and that’s pretty cool,” Nelson said.

 

“It just shows us how far we’ve come and how far we can go,” Khicha added.

 

Unseeded Carson Creevey (USTA Oklahoma) and Taylor Goates (USTA Kansas) topped Gautham Vignesh Srikanth (USTA Heart of America) and Matias Sabogal Negron (USTA Oklahoma). Creevey/Goates collected an 8-6 win in the Boys’ 12s championship.

 

Girls’ Doubles

 

Prior to winning the Girls’ 18s singles crown, Emerey Gross won the doubles championship alongside her partner, Atra Biria (USTA Heart of America). The duo topped USTA Heart of America’s Sydney Fuger and Mithila Dixit—a United States Air Force Academy commit—by an 8-4 score line.

 

Haley Hibbets (USTA Oklahoma) and Corinne Barber (USTA Nebraska) upset No. 1-seeded Evangeline Lunsford (USTA Oklahoma) and Ava Beltran with an 8-5 result in Girls’ 16s. London Evans double-dipped with a doubles title alongside partner Ava Sock (USTA St. Louis). The tandem toppled No. 1 seed Penelope Smith/Sophia Gooch (USTA Oklahoma).

 

In Girls’ 12 & Under action, No. 2-seeded twin sisters Emma and Lily Graves bested top-seeded Olivia Wells/Caroline Creevey (USTA Oklahoma) in a competitive 9-7 final. The Graves siblings were down 4-6 and defended a couple match points before closing out the victory.

 

Sportsmanship Winners

 

As is customary at the Rally in the Valley Championships—which have been humming along since 2004—great character was emphasized and rewarded with sportsmanship trophies given out to one player in each age group. Tournament staff, coaches, players and spectators are encouraged to nominate individuals who demonstrate standout sporting behavior for the USTA Missouri Valley SuperSport campaign, with the grand-prize winner awarded a trip for two to the US Open.

 

The Rally in the Valley sportsmanship winners were as follows:

 

Vaughn Smith, Boys’ 18s (USTA Oklahoma)

Sanjay Rajkumar, Boys’ 16s (USTA Heart of America)

Peter Choi, Boys’ 14s (USTA Oklahoma)

AJ Williams, Boys’ 12s (USTA Iowa)

 

Skye Madatali, Girls’ 18s (USTA St. Louis)

Haley Hibbets, Girls’ 16s (USTA Oklahoma)

Sophia Gooch, Girls’ 14s (USTA Oklahoma)

Kenadie Dugan, Girls’ 12s (USTA Kansas)

 

Sydney Fuger (Girls' 18s, USTA Heart of America) and Mollie Epps (Girls' 14s, USTA Oklahoma) were also recognized for their standout sportsmanship.

 

To view full results from the 2024 Rally in the Valley Championships, click here. David Minihan, USTA Oklahoma executive director, Edmond Center Court director and Rally in the Valley tournament director, contributed to this report.