Girls
The GHS girls team traveled to ATU earlier this week to compete in the 5A West Conference tournament, and they came away victorious.
Madie Pelt and Katelyn Bailey were eliminated in the early going, but the other doubles team of Karli Fisher and Leighton Haralson reached the finals. The duo of Fisher/Haralson are undefeated this year and head coach Ken Hamilton gave them high praise. “Both are very good athletes. You can tell that by watching them move around the court.. These two girls really got it together for this tournament and played their best to help give Greenwood the conference title.” Karli and Leighton took on Vilonia in the finals where they swept them in straight sets to win the conference doubles championship.
Singles players, Olivia Gaston and Abigail Woodring were each undefeated on the season and both made it to the singles conference championship, where they had to face off against each other. Gaston won the match in two sets, but both played very well said Hamilton. "If you watch these two warm up you will know how close they are in ability. Both of them have very good serves and excellent strokes. Olivia has beaten Abigail on previous occasions and her advantage is mainly a mental one. As far as we are concerned, they both are winners and helped lead their teammates to the conference championship. They both contributed to the win. It's just sad one had to lose but is a very good feeling to watch two Greenwood players battle it out for the singles championship." Having both Olivia and Abigail in the finals solidified the overall first place for the Bulldogs as they won the conference Championship with 18 points, with the second place team having seven points. Points are given out for each round won in the tournament.
Gaston. Woodring, and Fisher/Haralson will all travel to Hot Springs for the State Tournament on October 8th and 9th.
Boys
"They played as hard as they could but just came up short against better tennis players this time.” This is what the head coach had to say after singles players Kenny Sweeney and Zackery Beshears fell in two hard fought battles.Both Kenny and Zackery got past the first round but lost in the second round to higher seeds.
Jack Gaston and Micah Belue also lost in the second round to a higher seeded team, but the other doubles team fared well. Auston Shown/Jonathan Mitchell made it all the way to the finals and won one set, but fell just short of the championship. This run by Shown/Mitchell helped Greenwood capture third place in the tournament.
"Both our doubles teams played as hard as they could. A single point here or there can make a difference in a close match and that is what happened to them. I am extremely proud of how hard all of them competed in the tournament." said Coach Hamilton. Shown/Mitchell will also travel to Hot Springs for the State Tournament on October 8th and 9th.