The Russellville High School varsity boys’ tennis team is primed for a run at another Section title with the tournament right around the corner. The tournament, hosted by Russellville and set for April 15-16, is when the Golden Tigers are hoping to start firing on all cylinders.
“We’ve performed well this season, but the good thing is we still haven’t played our best tennis yet,” Russellville head coach Ben Phillips said. “I’m looking forward to seeing if we can do that in the section tournament.”
“I’m just waiting to see us put a whole match together, a whole tournament together, and see our full potential,” he added.
Phillips admits repeating as Section champs won’t be any easy task given the strength of the competition.
“I think I said this last year and this year I’ll say it again: I think our section, top to bottom, is probably one of the best in the state,” he said. “Typically you have two teams playing for (first and second), and I don’t think that’s the case in our section.”
The entire regular season, Phillips said, has been a proving ground for the Golden Tigers. Russellville has competed in a number of big tournaments and scheduled tough non-section competition to better prepare the players for the most important matches of the season.
“We have really challenged our kids this year…with a really tough schedule. We haven’t played anybody in any non-section matches or tournaments that don’t go to state and win a lot of matches,” Phillips said. “We started off the season off at Jasper’s tournament and did really well. Win a few matches here and there and we would’ve been in the championship (of the tournament).”
Led by a trio of seniors, Phillips said the Golden Tigers have really worked hard to get to where they are up to this point.
“My three seniors, Reese Carson, Bralynn Vincent, and Malachi Duncan, they’re my three seniors in my top six this year. They’ve done a really good job of preparing and getting ready for matches,” he said. “Those three seniors have come a long way. Reese only started playing tennis in 10th grade, and last year he was my number one seed as a junior; this year as a senior he’s my one seed.”
“Really my whole team is playing well. I’ve also got the twins, David and Josue (Tomas) and they’re probably the hardest workers I’ve ever seen,” he added. “I’ve got a bunch of competitors on my team.”
The goal all season, Phillips said, is for the Golden Tigers to improve match to match, regardless of the result, all with the aim of playing their best tennis in the section tournament.
“I tell our kids all the time, I don’t care how we play in the (regular) season, I just want us to get better every match, every day and then start peaking at section,” he said. “Our goal is always to win section. That’s most important and that goal never changes.”
“There’s a lot of good teams in this section, but I think we’ve set ourselves up, as far as draws go, to be successful in the tournament,” Phillips added.
Should all go to plan the Golden Tigers will add another section title to the trophy case and really be humming along heading into the state tournament. At that point, Phillips said, Russellville will decide its next goal.
“At state we need to be hitting on all cylinders. Our main goal is always to win the section, and then we reevaluate our goals after that. Two years ago we wanted to go down to state and be top 10—we were 11th. Last year we wanted to be top five and we were fourth,” he said. “So the most important thing right now is the section tournament and then we’ll change our goal and lock in on that.”
Wherever the Golden Tigers end up, Phillips said he’s happy with what his team has done this season and thankful for the support he and the team receive.
“I’m really proud of this team. I’m really proud of the parents that we have, who give their support and for everything they do on both the girls’ and boys’ sides,” he said. “Coach Dollar does a phenomenal job...and she crosses a lot of t’s and dots a lot of i’s when I’m not there, and I’m really thankful for her. And then our school system, they support us a lot, too.”
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