RHS tennis takes on state
By Brannon King for the FCT
The Russellville boys and girls varsity tennis teams traveled to the Mobile Tennis Center to play in the Class 4A-5A state tournament April 24-25.
The teams, led by Coach Charlotte Dollar, advanced to the state tournament after the girls’ team won their sectional play and the boys finished in second place.
In girls No. 1 singles play at state, Anna Woods drew a first-round bye before falling 6-3, 6-3 to Kaitlyn Williams of Boaz.
At No. 2 singles Katie Burns advanced to the semifinals with wins over Grayson Howell of Montgomery Catholic (6-3, 6-2) and Sydney McGregory of Deshler (6-3, 6-1) before falling to eventual state champion Elizabeth Swain of UMS-Wright, 6-0, 6-1.
In No. 3 singles, Rebecca Parrish dropped her match 6-3, 6-4 to Emma Roberts of Boaz. Lariza Garcia-Delgado lost to Annalyse Cole of West Point 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 in No. 4 singles.
In No. 5 singles, Elyse Strickland won her first-round match 6-2, 6-0 over Ella Quarles of Demopolis before losing to Caroline Easterling of Trinity 6-2, 6-0. No. 6 in singles Kaydee Holland lost to Micah Oldacre of West Point 6-2, 6-4.
In girls’ doubles, No. 1 Burns and Strickland had a round 1 bye before picking up a 6-0, 6-1 win over Demopolis. They then fell to Harmony Frye and Minhee Jeon of LAMP 6-0, 6-3.
In No. 2 doubles, Woods and Parrish dropped their match to eventual champs Tianna Dixon and Martha Williams of UMS-Wright 6-0, 6-1.
In No. 3 doubles, Garcia-Delgado and Holland fell to Caitlyn Morgan and Clare Phillips of Boaz 7-5, 6-3. The entire RHS girls’ team placed tenth in the tournament.
In boys’ action, Russellville finished 13th as Briarwood Christian School took the team title in Mobile.
Caleb Mayfield had a first-round bye before winning a match in No. 1 singles over Patrick Kraver of UMS-Wright, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. He then fell to Jaemin Kim of LAMP, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
In No. 2 singles, Charlie Chard lost to Sean Davis of Randolph, 6-0, 6-0. No. 3 singles player Andres Vargas lost his match to eventual champion Patrick McGowin of UMS-Wright, 6-0, 6-0.
In No. 4 singles, Samuel Franklin lost to Hawthorne Ramsey of St. James 6-0, 6-0, and No. 5 Anthony Ruiz dropped his match to Gerald Howard of Lee, 6-1, 6-1. In No. 6 singles, Kiah Derrick lost to Masen Howard of Douglas, 6-2, 6-2.
In doubles action, No. 1 Mayfield and Chard lost 6-2, 6-4, and No. 2 Vargas and Ruiz lost in round one, 6-0, 6-0. The No. 3 doubles duo of Franklin and Derrick lost their opening match 6-0, 6-1 to Trinity.
