Aspen Wooten, Lake Nona girls capture elusive FHSAA tennis state title

Aspen Wooten, a talented tennis prodigy who moved from Memphis to Lake Nona with her family as a ninth grader, had accomplished just about everything available in her four-year high school career — including winning more than 100 matches.

The one big missing piece was seeing her team finally capture an elusive state championship.

On Tuesday afternoon at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Wooten finally achieved that goal. With the Lions leading 3-0 and needing just one more match win against reigning state champ Miami Palmetto, she looked like a girl on a mission. She closed out a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-2 (10-2) win against Allesia Franco to clinch the team title.

“It was now or nothing. It’s my senior year. I wanted to go out on a bang,” said Wooten.

That she did. After dominating the second set to even the No. 2 singles match she continued her stellar play in the 10-point tiebreaker. Wooten drilled two overheads for points, added another with an exquisite drop shot, and ripped a two-handed backhand down the line on the way to a 7-1 advantage. She closed the match with a sharp backhand volley to give the Lions the FHSAA Class 4A state championship.

Sad memories of last year — when Wooten lost a tiebreaker in her state championship singles match to hand Palmetto the title — are all but erased. Painted over by the joy that came when her teammates rushed the court to celebrate her conquest.

“I wanted to turn it all around and I did. I turned on the kill switch,” said Wooten, who is moving on to play for the Naval Academy.

When asked about her family’s move to a community that boasts the USTA National Campus, Wooten said:

“The best four years of my life. It’s a big family and it kept getting bigger. We support each other so much.”

The Lions had 42 varsity players this year, including 22 girls. Every one played at least one varsity match.

Lake Nona took control in the final by winning the two doubles lines. Wooten teamed with standout sophomore Ashley Narath to win No. 1 doubles. Sophomore Ariana Barber and fourth-year senior Shaka Moturi won the second doubles match, and Moturi cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win in No. 4 singles to make it 3-0.

Lake Nona’s dominance was thorough. Narath led 6-4, 2-1 at No. 1 singles, Barber had won the first set at No. 3 and sophomore Brianna Torres led 6-1, 4-1 when play was called off when Wooten clinched the verdict.

The Lions went 19-0 in the three state tournament rounds to wrap up an undefeated season.

Lake Nona’s boys team, coming off a 2025 state title season, lost a hotly-contested Tuesday state semifinal 4-1 to Doral Academy. The Firebirds went on to win the final 4-3 over Cypress Bay.

Lake Nona wins dramatic FHSAA tennis state final against Doral Academy

The Nona boys also won a 2022 state championship while the girls program had been runner-up four times (2011, 2019, 2024, 2025).

“Words can’t describe how happy I am for the girls,” said Lions head coach Tom Beard. “Now they’ve experienced what the boys have, holding the trophy and taking the pictures. They’ll get a championship ring ceremony and be honored at our spring football game. They deserve it all.”

Lake Highland Prep’s girls reached the 2A final, where they lost 4-0 to Delray Beach Atlantic after winning a dramatic semifinal. The Highlanders previously placed second in 1994, 1997 and 2016.

The Highlanders all-underclass boys team lost four tiebreakers in a heartbreaking 4-3 semifinal loss against Alonso Mourning of Miami. The Lake Highland boys got singles wins from seventh grader Rayden Bates and freshman Robert Heysek, and Heysack teamed with sophomore Zachary Chang for a No. 2 doubles victory. The Highlanders top three players — freshman Sohith Tella, junior Jackson Bates, and Chang all split sets before losing tiebreakers.

Bishop Moore junior Lucas Magro went 2-1 in the individual singles bracket and took the top seed, William Freshwater of Barron Collier, to a tiebreaker before falling 1-6, 6-1, (10-3).

Twin sisters Jordan and Jaedyn Gomez, playing for Boone, lost their second round individual bracket doubles match 6-0, 6-0 against Doral Academy’s top seeded duo of Payton Seidle-Lubowitz and Stefany Zamora. After that, Jaedyn withdrew from her second round singles match.

Boone coach John Richards said Jaedyn’s back “flared up again”. He said she couldn’t really move in the doubles match and had to pull out of singles.

The 3A tournaments at Sanlando and 1A tournaments at Red Bug Lake Park (teams) and Sylvan Lake Park (individuals) open Wednesday morning.

Innovation’s boys and girls teams are in the 3A bracket.

Trinity Prep’s boys and Windermere Prep’s girls are in the 1A bracket.

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.