The Lone Peak girls tennis team pulled out a narrow 19-17 victory over Alta in the Region 4 tennis tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Hillcrest High School.

Under the new formula employed by the league, those scores were combined with the total number of individual-match wins during the regular season to determine which school earned the region trophy.

The Knights were trailing the two-time defending state champion Hawks by a single point entering the tournament, but all of their entrants won on the second day to give Lone Peak the edge for the crown by the slimmest of margins: 71-70.

"This may be the sweetest of our six straight region championships because of who we had to beat to achieve it," said Knight coach John La Cognata. "I'm still pinching myself. It was a remarkable two days, and season for that matter."

Although Lone Peak had three returning varsity players from last year's squad, all of the girls playing in the five varsity positions this season were new to the bracket they competed in.

"Having three sophomores and a freshman on varsity make it even more amazing," the coach .

"Going into the second (tournament) day, I told the girls that Day 1 was the cake because they had all qualified for state, so Day 2 was the icing and to relax and enjoy it.

"I knew that every girl would have to win on Day 2 in order for us to have a chance, and they went out and did it," La Cognata said.

"This group of girls has great court maturity even though they may be young in years," he added. "They have believed in themselves all year and have never had to be pushed to work hard."

The Knights won bracket championships in third singles and both doubles divisions, and finished third in first and second singles.

In region title matches, Lone Peak's Lydia Sheffield defeated Katie Larsen of Brighton 7-5, 6-3 in third singles.

Whitney White and Torie Wake had a relatively easy first-doubles match, retiring Vikings Tessa Sheffield and Janelle Matheny 6-3, 6-1.

In the marathon second doubles match, Lauren Lefrandt and Megan Call outlasted Hope Masters and Lexi Ogden of Alta 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.

In the contests for third place, Kristi Elmer came from behind to beat Stephanie Nielsen of Brighton 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 in No. 1 singles. In No. 2 singles, Mindy Wong defeated Summer Child (P.G.) 6-0, 6-0.

In addition, Pleasant Grove's Kate Sheffield and Kelsey Diderickson advanced to state in third place after defeating Abby Dahl and Jessie Landgren of Brighton in No. 2 doubles.

"It was pretty exciting for us to be able to get in there and compete with those guys," said Viking coach Kelli Amussen. "We only have two seniors, so we're encouraged that we have a chance to be pretty good in the future."

• Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com.

REGION 4 TENNIS FINAL RESULTS

Combined (regular season and tournament) team scores: Lone Peak 71, Alta 70, Brighton 48, Pleasant Grove 32. Individual state qualifiers are, No. 1 singles: 1-Ashley Tanner (A), 2-Kallie Sperry (Jordan), 3-Kristi Elmer (LP), 4- Stephanie Nielsen (B); No. 2 singles: 1-Brie Beck (A), 2- Anna Kankanala (B), 3-Mindy Wong (LP), 4- Summer Child (PG); No. 3 singles: 1-Lydia Sheffield (LP), 2- Katie Larsen (B), 3- Alexis Nielsen (A), 4- Anna Loumis (Hillcrest); No. 1 doubles: 1-Whitney White and Torie Wake (LP), 2- Tessa Sheffield and Janelle Matheny (PG), 3-Dana Petersen and Ashley Anderson (A), 4-Tabitha Stevenson and Lauren Allison (B); No. 2 doubles: 1-Lauren Lefrandt and Megan Call (LP), 2-Hope Masters and Lexi Ogden(A), 2- Kate Sheffield and Kelsey Diderickson (PG), 4- Abby Dahl and Jessie Landgren (B). Local Academic All-Region: American Fork-Megan Mulvey, Leigh Mulliner; Lone Peak-Lydia Sheffield, Shydi Norton, Megan Melendez; Pleasant Grove-Tessa Sheffield.