NORTH LITTLE ROCK - Several Magnolia athletes participated in the Class 4A State Tennis tournament at Burns Park in North Little Rock this week.
The team of Tristan Malone and Keith Watson won their first-round match against a duo from Crossett by scores of Crossett 6-3, 6-3.
They lost to Farmington in second round 7-6(6-8 tiebreaker), 1-6.
“Both players had a goal of making it past the first round or more, and accomplished just that,” said MHS tennis coach Shelly Malone.
In singles, Kevin Zhao won his first-round battle against Dylan Swartz of Jonesboro Westside 6-1, 6-1, and defeated Ian Garcia of De Queen 6-1,6-3 in the second round.
Zhao lost to Foster Rogers of Pulaski Academy in the semifinals, but beat Anthony Tran of Pulaski Academy 8-3 for the third place overall finish.
“He too set a goal of making it to the second day of the tournament and was successful,” mentioned Malone.
In other action, Blake Prince and Peyton Carter lost in the first round to Pulaski Academy 6-4, 6-2.
“This was a hard fought battle and even though MHS did not come out on top, I’m very proud of how they played,” she said.
Abbie Jolly lost in the girl’s singles in the first round to a Pulaski Robinson Lady Senator.
“However, she played every point to its fullest. Losing 6-2, 7-5 lets you see that she never gave up,” stated Malone.
The coach said, “I want to say thank you to all of the fans, parents, faculty, and staff for making this tennis season wonderful. The encouragement to all the players never gets old and keeps them motivated to continue to strive to perform their best.”
“I want to give a shout out to my eight seniors and wish all of you the best in your future. I also want challenge my returning players to continue being the best that they can be setting new goals and continuing to show your leadership on and off the court.,” said Malone, adding “A huge thank you to Tammy Jolly for being booster club president. Your hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed.”