GHS tennis competes at district, four players move on to regionals

GHS tennis competes at district, four players move on to regionals News Staff Tue, 04/16/2024 - 2:40 pm

• (GHS TENNIS | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Both the Graham Steers and Lady Blues teams finished as runners-up in district at the competition in Glen Rose last Friday, April 12. Pictured are members of the team with individual medals and the team trophies.
• (GHS TENNIS | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) At left, Hayden Burrows finished in second place in Boys Singles at the district competition in Glen Rose last Friday, April 12. He will move onto regionals in Lubbock in May. At right, Jade Dospapas earned a silver medal after finishing second place in Girls Singles at the district competition in Glen Rose last Friday, April 12.

TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com

The Graham Steers and Lady Blues varsity tennis teams wrapped up their regular season last week at the district competition held over two days in Glen Rose.

The singles, doubles and mixed pairings all played Wednesday, April 10 and those who qualified to move on finished things up Friday, April 12.

After two hard days of competition, Graham finished with two athletes qualifying for regionals in singles and two athletes moving on as a mixed doubles pair. Hayden Burrows finished second place in boys singles, Jade Dospapas earned second in girls singles and the mixed doubles duo of Reagan Birdwell and Luke Qualls were the champions of mixed doubles.

Burrows won his first two matches with relative ease, the first by scores of 6-3 and 6-3 and the second 6-2 and 6-3. He put up a fight in the final match but fell to Brownwood’s champion 6-1 and 6-2.

Scott Grimes came in fourth place in boys singles after winning his first match 6-1 and 7-5 before also taking a loss to Brownwood’s winner 6-1 and 6-0.

Dospapas came in second in girls singles after a couple of close set losses in the championship match 7-5 and 6-3. She faced off with fellow Lady Blues player Stacey Gonzales for second place, in which Dospapas came out on top 7-5 and 6-0, which gave Dospapas second place and Gonzales third place.

Qualls and Birdwell cruised to the championship match a year after winning the mixed doubles district championship last year. They faced opposition in the final after they lost the first set 6-4 but came back to win the next two 6-1 and 7-5 to claim the championship.

The other mixed doubles duo of Barron Burrows and Olivia Buckley won their first match 6-0 and 6-1 before falling to the eventual runners-up from Stephenville.

Jaydon Noyola and Silas Yoder took third place in boys doubles after winning the third place match by identical set scores of 6-2 and 6-2. The pairing of Hudson Crawford and Brodey Mills won their first match 6-4 and 6-3 before taking a loss.

On the girls doubles side, Graham’s pair of Heather Wright and Reanna Brock fell in their first-round matchup 6-0 and 6-1.

In addition to the individual and doubles scores, both the Steers and Lady Blues varsity teams finished as runners-up in district. Players who qualified for regionals will train and work towards the competition at the McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock which takes place May 10-11.

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