Class 7A girls state tennis tournament

Fayetteville plays stingy

Bentonville West players Avery Hargrove (left) and Sarah Schneringer won the Class 7A state girls doubles championship when they defeated Fayetteville’s Cam Cupelli and Anna Mauromoustakos 6-4, 6-4.
Bentonville West players Avery Hargrove (left) and Sarah Schneringer won the Class 7A state girls doubles championship when they defeated Fayetteville’s Cam Cupelli and Anna Mauromoustakos 6-4, 6-4.

BENTONVILLE -- The Fayetteville girls were in no mood to share the Class 7A state tennis title Tuesday afternoon.

There was a scenario where the Lady Bulldogs would have to split the state team title with Bentonville West, but sophomore Mary Houston took care of that notion by winning the girls singles title 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour over Kate Files of Fort Smith Southside.

Class 7A state girls tennis tournament

at Memorial Park, Bentonville

Tuesday’s Results

Team Totals

1, Fayetteville 11. 2, Bentonville West 8. 3, Rogers High, Fort Smith Northside (tie) 5. 5, Fort Smith Southside 3. 6, Little Rock Central 2. 7, Bentonville High, Mount St. Mary, Conway, Rogers Heritage (tie) 1.

Girls Singles

Semifinals

Mary Houston, Fayetteville, def. Eleanor Burks, Little Rock Central, 6-0, 6-0. Kate Files, Fort Smith Southside, def. Erica Jaggernauth, Rogers High, 6-3, 6-3.

Finals

Houston, Fayetteville, def. Files, Southside, 6-0, 6-0.

Third-place

Jaggernauth, Rogers High, def. Burks, Little Rock Central, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Girls Doubles

Semifinals

Cam Cupelli/Anna Mauromoustakos, Fayetteville, def. Caroline Long/Brittany Matthews, Rogers, High, 6-4, 6-4. Avery Hargrove/Sarah Schneringer, Bentonville West, def. Amy Truitt/Mackenzie Shell, Fort Smith Southside, 6-1, 7-5.

Finals

Hargrove/Schneringer, Bentonville West, def. Cupelli/Mauromoustakos, Fayetteville, 6-4, 6-4.

Third Place

Long/Matthews, Rogers High, def. Trutt/Shell, Fort Smith Southside, 6-3, 6-0.

That clinched Fayetteville's first state tennis title since 1982.

It didn't matter that the Bentonville West doubles team of Avery Hargrove and Sarah Schneringer edged Fayetteville's Cam Cupelli and Anna Mauromoustakos 6-4, 6-4 in their final later in the day, but the victory did give the Lady Wolverines a state runner-up finish.

Fayetteville Coach Darin Phelan said he couldn't have been prouder of all three girls, but Houston was dominant. She didn't drop a single game in three state tournament matches.

Phelan said Houston pushed her game to a new level after avenging her lone loss of the season by winning the 7A-West Conference singles title.

"She played flawless," Phelan said. "I haven't seen her play better. I think her focus got better. However she found it, I hope she never loses it. Because that's what we saw in every match. She wasn't giving away cheap points. She played every opponent the same, respected them. I think that was the difference."

Fayetteville also had state tournament experience to rely on, just not in the same positions. Phelan shifted Cupelli, who finished third in singles last year, to doubles. He also moved Houston to singles after she and Mauromoustakos teamed up to finish second in the state a year ago.

"We just wanted to try something a little bit different and sure glad it did work," Phelan said. "Mary is a very up-and-coming singles player, and we thought having the two seniors together, they would just mesh and they did.

"I think I could have switched any one of the three into the singles spot, but Mary I felt more confident that she would have a better year. Cam and Anna playing together, they're great friends. It seemed like a natural thing to do."

Bentonville West Coach Hunter Alexander said his first thought was to have Hargrove and Schneringer play singles this season, but he changed his mind early.

"We took a trip to Arlington, Texas, and played some teams down there," Alexander said. "It's all team format, so the first match, for the heck of it, I threw Sarah and Avery together in doubles. And they were amazing. They just clicked. At that moment, I kind of went, 'Hmm. OK.' "

Hargrove, a senior, claimed her second state doubles title after winning a state doubles title a year ago at Bentonville.

"Sarah's able to control the ball from the baseline," Alexander said. "Avery's able to really take control at the net. Both of them are solid servers and returners."

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Fayetteville High School's Mary Houston competes Friday, October 6, 2017, in the 7A-West Conference tennis tournament at Springdale Har-Ber High School tennis courts in Springdale. Houston was playing against Rogers High School's Erica Jaggernauth.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Members of the Fayetteville girls tennis team pose with the trophy after winning the Class 7A team title Tuesday in Bentonville. It was the Lady Bulldogs’ first state title since 1982.

Sports on 10/18/2017

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