Russellville added another red map trophy to its collection last week after the Russellville High School varsity girls’ tennis team competed at the state tournament in Mobile. The Golden Tigers finished runner-up among the 16 schools competing for the state title.
“We’re really excited about it. We had several players who stepped up and played really well,” Russellville head coach Charlotte Dollar said. “When it was time to play well, we did. We stepped up and took some people down, and it was really exciting to see them play that well.”
Russellville finished with three singles runners-up and one doubles runner-up. Peyton Parrish, Sarah Kate Kiel, and Kinsley Palmer all made it to the championship round in their respective brackets. Parrish fell to Gulf Shores’ Tereza Mojs 0-6, 1-6 in the final while Kiel lost to UMS-Wright’s Victoria Rizk 1-6, 0-6. Palmer took a few more games off LAMP High School’s Dabeen Choi in a 4-6, 1-6 defeat.
“Peyton played through some pain and just pushed and played hard. Several of them just really played well and several got to the finals,” Dollar said. “They all finished second in the state individually, and that’s really exciting to see.”
Russellville’s other singles players were Sofia Tiffin, who advanced to the semifinals, and Addie Strickland and Lily Cate Pace, who were eliminated in the opening rounds.
The doubles pairing of Palmer and Pace also made it to the championship round. Palmer and Pace faced off against LAMP in the final, dropping it 2-6, 4-6. The duo Parrish and Tiffin made it to the semifinal round while Strickland and Kaitlin Speck were knocked out in round two.
The competition was always going to be fierce. Dollar said before the tournament that some unlucky seeding may be a factor, but after all was said and done it appeared to be pretty level.
“We had a couple people who got knocked out in the first round because they drew like UMS-Wright or LAMP or one of those really big private schools,” Dollar said. “Then we had a couple who got a pretty good draw so it was kind of balanced. We had some good draws, we had some bad draws, and then we had some draws that we just fought through.”
Though the Golden Tigers didn’t win it all, a runner-up trophy is a nice way to wrap up a season and for the several seniors on the team, a nice way to end a career.
“We’re really happy with them being able to accomplish what they did,” Dollar said. “I think under the circumstances they did a phenomenal job, and we are just so proud of them and happy for them to go out runner-up and bringing home another map.”
Dollar herself was also awarded another honor. She was selected to coach in the North/South All-Star Game to be played in Montgomery in July.
“It’s exciting because I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m excited to have that opportunity to go down there, and I’m honored and humbled that they chose me,” Dollar said. “I’m excited to get to go and see what it’s all about.”
The Russellville boys’ tennis team also competed at the state tournament, finishing fifth. David Tomas and Malachi Duncan both made it to the semifinals before being knocked out.
The Golden Tigers had two players make it to the boys’ singles championship round. Josue Tomas battled to a 5-7, 2-6 defeat at the hands of LAMP’s Ian Kim, while Bralynn Vincent fell 1-6, 1-6 to Houston Academy’s Thomas Buntin.
Commenting on this story has been disabled.
