Albany tennis players eye state spots at regional meet
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany will have nine athletes in five entries vying for state berths Friday and Saturday, May 9-10 at the Region II-2A tennis tournament at Richland Tennis Center in North Richland Hills.
The top two finishers in each draw qualify for the Class 2A state tournament, scheduled for Thursday-Friday, May 15-16 at Blossom Tennis Center in San Antonio.
Last year’s regional mixed doubles champions, senior twins Abi and Jake Hale, are looking for a return trip to state. They were defeated at the district tournament by junior teammates Mimi Ivy and Cade Fairchild, and tennis coach M.J. Reneau is hopeful that all four athletes will end up on the state stage.
This will be the Hales’ third appearance at the regional level, and Fairchild was there last year with his brother and boys doubles partner Cason Fairchild.
Also advancing to the regional tournament from district are girls doubles champions Hattie Braly and Charlee Hefner, both sophomores, and the boys singles gold medalist, freshman Aiden Vickers, as well as juniors Woods Peterson and Jaxson Street, who were district runners-up in boys doubles.
Reneau feels that the level of experience that some of the Albany players are taking into regional will be a factor, but she is also excited about how young most of the team is.
“Abi and Jake are the only seniors, and I really expect them to do well, but it’s exciting to watch some of these younger players work through their inexperience,” the coach said.
The team will depart Thursday, May 8 with a seeding meeting and brackets drawn after they arrive in North Richland Hills. Members of the Albany team will have a chance to practice that evening.
On Friday, the athletes will start bracket play.
Because the UIL made the decision to send the top three in each category to state, there will be no playbacks this year.
Reneau is not sure how the brackets will be set up, so there may be both semifinals and championships played on Saturday.
Junior High
The Albany junior high tennis program will compete in its district tournament over the next few days, with the boys on Friday, May 2 and the girls on Monday, May 5.
The location has changed from the Rose Park Tennis Center to Abilene High School, Reneau said on Tuesday.
Action is expected to start at 3:00 p.m. each day.
The junior high players were not able to play intrasquad matches last Thursday as scheduled because the courts were too wet. There are, however, intrasquad scrimmages set today (Thursday) prior to Friday’s start of district play.
Reneau said the players have progressed rapidly in the brief season.
“They have been committed and coming to practice,” the coach said. “They have definitely made improvement, with better ball control and starting to learn some strategy. There is a lot of potential with this group.”
