GHS, Newcastle tennis compete at regionals, ‘Cats advance to state News Staff Tue, 05/14/2024 - 9:59 am
- (NEWCASTLE TENNIS, GRAHAM TENNIS | CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS) At left, Newcastle’s mixed doubles tandem of junior Mattie Dollar and senior Isaac King dominated the competition en route to winning the regional competition at North Richland Hills last weekend. The pair will compete at the state tournament Thursday, May 16 and Friday, May 17. At right, Graham High School sent four to the regional competition in Lubbock last weekend. Although none of the athletes advanced to state, each had varying levels of success.
TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com
It was a busy weekend of tennis for Graham and Newcastle’s regional qualifiers as both schools sent athletes to different parts of the state for competition.
Graham had four players representing the school: a boys singles, girls singles and a mixed doubles team. Newcastle had their mixed doubles pair competing, as well, for a spot in the state tournament.
The Steers and Lady Blues participated in the Conference 4A Region 1 competition in Lubbock at Texas Tech University while Newcastle’s duo played in the 1A Region 3 tournament at North Richland Hills.
For Graham, each of the four players had varying levels of success with their draws, but unfortunately, none of the athletes advanced to the state tournament. Sophomore Jade Dospapas made it the furthest in her category, as she finished fourth place in girls singles.
In Newcastle’s competition, junior Mattie Dollar and senior Isaac King dominated their playing field as they went on to win the regional in mixed doubles and advanced to the state tournament in San Antonio this coming Thursday, May 16 and Friday, May 17.
Graham
Junior Hayden Burrows led things off for Graham in the regional tournament and was matched up with the No. 1 seed in the tournament from Andrews. Burrows fell in two sets by scores of 6-0 and 6-0 to end his regional run.
For seniors Reagan Birdwell and Luke Qualls in mixed doubles, they won their first match in three sets against a pair from Seminole by scores of 6-4, 2-6 and 6-3.
After they advanced to the second round, they lost in a heartbreaker to Burkburnett. The two sides split the first two sets with Graham winning the first set 6-0 and Burkburnett winning the next 7-6. In the tiebreaker, Burkburnett held a 6-5 lead and their final shot hit the net but bounced over to score the match-winning point at 7-5.
Dospapas played well enough through her first two matches to make it to the semifinal round. She defeated a player from Wichita Falls Old High in three sets 6-4, 2-6 and 6-3. In her second match-up she beat the No. 3 seed, a Spanish exchange student who plays for Snyder, by scores of 7-6, 5-7 and 6-3.
As Dospapas moved into the semifinals she played the No. 1 seed from Hereford and lost in two sets by identical scores of 6-2 and 6-2. In the battle for third place, Dospapas lost to the district champion from Stephenville 6-4 and 6-2 to finish her regional performance in fourth place.
Newcastle
For Newcastle’s standout mixed doubles team, they cruised through the competition in both days of their event. Dollar and King played three matches on Friday and the closest an opposing team came to winning a set against them was winning three games.
The pair kicked off the day facing Dodd City, who gave Newcastle their biggest challenge outside of the championship match. Dollar and King won in two sets 6-3 and 6-3.
As the Bobcat and Ladycat moved to face Walnut Springs, they defeated the Hornets 6-1 and 6-1. In the third match of the day to determine who moved onto the finals, Newcastle crushed Priddy’s duo 6-1 and 6-0.
In the championship match on Saturday morning, Newcastle’s tandem matched up with the Ector Eagles’ mixed doubles team. Dollar and King won the first set handily 6-1, and despite Ector’s best efforts in the second set, Newcastle ran away with the regional championship win with a score of 6-4.
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