The two-time reigning state champion Manchester Academy boys tennis team won the District 3AAA conference tournament on Monday in Vicksburg, while the Maverick girls tennis team won the runner-up trophy behind St. Aloysius.
“We had seven of our nine teams punch their tickets to North State, so we did a good job for such a young team of getting to the finals of district,” said Maverick Coach Debbie Crisler. “We are proud of Upton Hitt, only an 8th grader, for winning the district championship and helping lead our boys to the overall district championship. It’s always nice to collect more hardware for the M.A. trophy case.”
The Mavericks won the boys’ championship with 9.5 points, with Riverfield Academy in a distant 2nd with 5 points, Central Hinds Academy with 4.5 points, Hartfield Academy with 4 points, St. Aloysius with 3.5 points and Park Place Christian Academy with none. St. Aloysius won the girls’ championship with 11.5 points, with Manchester in 2nd with 7.5 points, Central Hinds with 4.5, Riverfield with 4 and Park Place and Hartfield tied for 5th with 2 points each.
Upton Hitt mowed down his competition at #2 boys singles defeating Wyatt Mason of Hartfield Academy 6-0, 6-0 in the semi-finals and Jack Ferguson of Central Hinds Academy 6-1, 6-2 for the district championship. Hitt will be Manchester’s lone #1 seed at the North State tournament next Monday at Cypress Hills in Greenville.
Harper Guthrie, a senior Maverick, won the runner-up #1 boys singles trophy by beating Taylor Cannon of Central Hinds Academy 6-0, 7-5 in the semi-finals, but lost a nail-biter to Travis Rawls of Riverfield Academy 4-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the championship match. Guthrie defeated Rawls in their regular season match in a similarly close match that also came down to the last few points.
MA’s Cole Carpenter and Kinkead Dent were the #1 seed at district in #1 boys doubles and rolled over their first opponent from St. Aloysius 6-1, 6-4, but came up short in the finals to Hartfield Academy 7-5, 6-4, who they beat handily a week earlier. Mavericks Nathan Carroll and Matt Carroll were undefeated on the season at #2 boys doubles and the #1 seed at district and easily won their semi-final match 6-0, 6-1 against Central Hinds; however, after easily winning their first set 6-1 in the finals against St. Aloysius, the wheels came off in a loss of 1-6, 6-3, 10-1.
The most experienced Maverick doubles team of Margaret Dent and Elizabeth Turner defeated Hatten and Sorey of Hartfield Academy 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals of #1 girls doubles, but fell 4-6, 6-2, 10-5 in a tough match in the late afternoon heat to Allie Falls and Ann Stewart Piazza of St. Aloysius. The Mav’s Nettie Taylor Barbour and Mary Sibley McGraw started slowly against Armstrong and Sullivan of Hartfield in #2 girls doubles, but then rolled to a relatively easy 7-5, 6-1 win in the semi-finals, before coming up just short in the championship match 6-4, 6-3 to Taylor Chewning and Ashley Jarrett of St. Aloysius.
Josie Coker was the #2 seed for the Mavericks at #2 girls singles and easily defeated Chloe Barton of Central Hinds 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals and lost a challenging three-set match 7-5, 3-6, 10-4 to Elise Piazza of St. Aloysius in the championship match. Monica Morrison, a Maverick 8th grader, was seeded 5th, but played a beautiful and tenacious match against Sophie Heath of Riverfield Academy winning 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 11-9 in the first round, but fell against the eventual district champion Madison Curtis of Central Hinds 6-1, 6-0 in the semi-finals.
Finally, the Maverick mixed doubles duo of Marie Lewis and Reid Bain were the #3 seed and scored an easy victory against Edwards and Swindle of Park Place Christian Academy 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, but lost to the eventual district champions Jones and Chewning 6-4, 6-0 in the semi-finals.
“We are excited about going to North State next Monday and competing for a chance to advance to the State Championship tournament,” added Coach Crisler. “We don’t have a great deal of experience on our team and got a little tight in a few matches at district. We have to relax and play our best tennis next week in Greenville if we want to send teams to the state tournament.”
The Mavericks will compete at the North State AAA tennis tournament at Cypress Hills Tennis Club in Greenville next Monday, May 2 beginning at 10 a.m.
