The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs competed last week in the Class 6A state tennis tournament at Burns Park in North Little Rock. The GHS boys entered play as the defending 6A state champions, winning the event last season. Lady Bulldogs’ sophomore Olivia Gaston reached the state finals last year as well, a feat she repeated last week.
Gaston earned a first-round bye at state, based on her performance in the 6A West conference tournament held a week earlier. In the state quarterfinals, Gaston easily defeated Madison Shelton of Jonesboro in straight sets by identical scores of 6-1, 6-1.
In the semi-finals against El Dorado’s Alexis Downum, Gaston cruised to a similar 6-1 win in the opening set, but had to battle hard to win the second set, 7-5, taking the match.
That left the GHS tenth grader facing Mountain Home sophomore tennis phenom Emily Heide, who bested Gaston in the finals last season in three sets. The two players also met earlier this season in tournament play, with Heide coming out on top again.
Unfortunately for Gaston, the trend continued in last week’s finals, with Heide winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to successfully defend her state title. However, both players advanced to the state’s overall tennis tournament played this past Monday and Tuesday, also at Burns Park.
Gaston was slated face sophomore Alexis Evans of Bentonville’s Haas Hall in the opening round on Monday, with the winner moving on to face Fayetteville sophomore Mary Houston later in the day.
Gaston defeated Evans 7-6, 6-1 in the first round, jumping to an early 3-0 lead before Evans rallied to eventually tie the set at 6-all. But Gaston dominated in the tiebreaker with steady, aggressive play to win 7-2. She then cruised to an easy victory in the second set.
After playing Evans at 11 a.m., Gaston had less than two hours to recover before her 2 p.m. match with Fayetteville’s Houston, who was fresh, coming off an opening round bye. Houston also had not dropped a game while winning the 7A girls singles title last week.
Down 0-3, Gaston eventually held serve, but lost the first set 2-6. At the beginning of the second set, the Greenwood sophomore was more aggressive, taking the ball on the rise and forcing Houston to hit from the back court, before losing a hard-fought final set, 3-6.
"Olivia played her best tennis of the year today, especially in the second set,” said GHS tennis coach Ken Hamilton. “She was serving well, returning well, and moving Houston around when she had the opportunity. Her ground strokes were deeper, and she retrieved balls that would have been winners against a lesser player, extending many rallies and winning some points she would not have won earlier in the year.
“The second set had many long rallies, and it was much closer than the score indicates. It's easy to be proud of your players when they win, but the way Olivia played today makes it easy to be proud of her in defeat. She definitely left it all on the court today, and that is all that can be asked of any player.
“She loves [tennis], she’s a fantastic competitor, and she keeps the ball in play. She’s just a real pleasure to coach and a real pleasure to watch,” he added.
“She’s going to be better the next two years. If she continues to get stronger and quicker, she will win a championship or championships before she graduates in two more years,” said Hamilton.
But Gaston wasn’t the only GHS girl to compete at state. Senior Lindsay Gills won her opening singles match (6-3, 6-1) over Kat Formel of Searcy, advancing to the quarterfinals against Benton’s Alex Trudell. Gills fought hard in the opening set, but lost 6-4, then dropped the decisive second set, 6-2. Trudell then lost to Heide in the semi-finals before defeating Downum to finish in third place.
The Lady Bulldogs also had two doubles teams qualify for state. The GHS duo of junior Amber Alzufari and sophomore Katelyn Bailey lost their first-round match to a Mountain Home pair, 6-2, 6-1.
However, the Greenwood tandem of Abigail Woodring and Madie Pelt, both sophomores, won their opening match 6-4, 6-0 over another team from Mountain Home, before losing by the identical same scores to a duo from Jonesboro.
On the boys’ side, GHS senior Woody Woodring was hoping to reach the 6A singles championship match for the second straight year, but dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Carlson Bennage of West Memphis in the semi-finals. Woodring, who received an opening round bye, advanced to the semis with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kyle Clayton of Jonesboro in the quarterfinals.
In 2016, Woodring lost to Greenwood teammate Andrew Anderson, who claimed the state singles title, helping the GHS boys win their first ever state title in tennis. In last week’s third-place consolation match, Woodring was also beaten by Jonesboro’s Eric Richardson, 8-1.
GHS junior Kenny Sweeney also competed in the state tournament, but lost his opening round singles match to Searcy’s Jake Ripley, in one of the tournament’s longest matches, falling 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
In boys doubles play, Greenwood’s Austin Shown and Eli Butler also played a marathon opening round, losing in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) to a duo from Searcy. Shown is a junior and Butler a sophomore.
Coach Hamilton also had some remarks about his two departing seniors, Woody Woodring and Lindsay Gills. “[They] both had all state careers and Woody was instrumental in winning the 6A [boys] state title [last year]. Woody definitely has a high school career he can feel proud of,” said Hamilton.
“Lindsay played singles for Greenwood this year after playing doubles in 2016. She has an incredible work ethic. This year she had early release and would be at the courts an hour before her teammates, working on her serve. Lindsay and Woody have played since their freshmen years.
“I have coached them both for four years, and it’s been a pleasure to be associated with such quality young individuals and their families. Both [of them] are involved in their local churches and communities. Woody could have had a higher ranking in the state, but did not want to miss church to play in the weekend tournaments necessary to increase ranking. Lindsay works with children at her church, and [they] value her time spent with them.
“Both Lindsay and Woody can play collegiate tennis if they wish,” added the coach. “They hit the ball as well as anyone who has ever played for Greenwood. Their best tennis is ahead of them, if they wish. If not in college, they will be very good club players. They have been a credit to their school, their families, and the tennis team. You could not ask for two better young people to be on your team.”