Photos courtesy of Homewood High School.
Homewood High School’s girls tennis team finished third at the state tournament in April at the Mobile Tennis Center, led by freshman Rachel French, who reached the No. 1 singles final and won the No. 1 doubles championship alongside classmate Vivi Evans.
Homewood High School’s Rachel French led the way for a strong Homewood High School performance at the state tennis tournament in April at the Mobile Tennis Center.
She won a doubles championship and gave the eventual individual champion everything she could handle before falling in the No. 1 singles final.
The freshman fought her way through the bracket without dropping a set, beating Ann-Dyas Thompson of UMS-Wright in the third round and Claire Maniscalco of Oxford in the semifinals before meeting Gulf Shores junior Tereza Mojs in the championship match.
Mojs, who would go on to claim the individual title, beat French 6-0, 6-1. French regrouped and teamed with classmate Vivi Evans to win the No. 1 doubles championship, beating Hartselle’s Caroline Sparks and Lily Reese 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
Evans had her own strong run through the singles bracket, reaching the No. 2 singles final before falling to Northridge’s Sophia Dunkle in a tightly contested three-set match, 6-0, 5-7, 13-11.
Eighth grader Elizabeth Chappell also reached a singles final, advancing to the No. 3 championship match before losing to Mountain Brook's Virginia Puckett 6-3, 6-1. Chappell won three matches to get there, including a second-round win over Pike Road’s Lara Gibson and a semifinal victory over Helena’s Emilia Stokes.
Dayton Agee reached the No. 6 singles semifinals before being eliminated.
Homewood's girls finished third in the team standings with 34 points, trailing champion Mountain Brook (68) and runner-up Decatur (39).
Homewood’s boys tennis team finished eighth at the Class 6A state tournament, with sophomore Charlie Bernstein reaching the No. 5 singles semifinals and seniors Camden Cox and Jackson Paulovich advancing to the quarterfinals of the No. 1 doubles bracket.
The Homewood boys competed in a tough 6A field and finished eighth with 17 points. Seniors Camden Cox and Jackson Paulovich reached the quarterfinals of the No. 1 doubles bracket. Senior Ford Haines won a round at No. 2 singles, and sophomore Charlie Bernstein reached the No. 5 singles semifinals before falling to Jasper's Eli Bailey in three sets. Freshman Cason Cox, junior Paul Kappes and senior Knox Chapman also competed for the Patriots.
John Carroll sent both its boys and girls teams to the Class 4A/5A State Tennis Championships in Mobile, with several players picking up wins during the week.
On the girls side, eighth grader Maddie Barranco was the deepest runner, advancing to the No. 6 singles semifinals before being eliminated. Seventh grader Harper Halsey, junior Sofia Arteaga and freshman Sofia Echemendia each won first-round singles matches. Senior Lucy Wagner and freshman Liza Zarzaur won their first-round doubles match as well. John Carroll's girls finished with 7 points in the team standings.
On the boys side, the doubles team of eighth-grader Graham Pugh and freshman Thomas Wagner won two matches to reach the No. 3 doubles semifinals before being eliminated. Junior Aiden Van Matre and junior Truman Vines each won their opening singles matches. The Cavaliers finished with 3 points in the team standings.
