By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
May 1, 2001
The Mississippi High School State tennis landscape was dotted with plenty of area players vying for a shot at championship glory during the opening day of the MHSAA State Tennis Tournament held at Parham Bridges Tennis Center and Ridgeland Tennis Complex in Jackson.
The tournament concludes today with the semifinal and final rounds in all classifications.
Class 5A: The Meridian High Wildcats had four different events Monday, but only two advanced to compete in today's action.
David Ray continued his brilliant singles run toward a crown by putting down Warren Central's Koestler 6-1, 6-0 in the opening match.
He followed that up by blanking Vicksburg's Hassell 6-0, 6-0.
He will face Hattiesburg's top seed, Hood in the semis at 9 a.m. today.
In girls singles, MHS freshman Kourtney Harris was eliminated by Gulfport's Berry, 6-1, 6-0.
For the second straight year, MHS' girls doubles made it to second day action, as Erin Brown one half of last year's state championship duo and partner Lena Hellms, defeated Starkville's S. Sharma and K. Lehman 6-2, 6-0. They then put away Clinton's J. Turner and K. Tonore.
The duo will face off against against division rivals Legg and Preble from Northwest Rankin.
In mixed doubles, Ramey Rush and Michael Seto were eliminated in their opening match by the Tupelo Golden Wave tandem of Duncan and Holliday. However, they went down swinging, dropping the second set tiebreaker 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Class 4A: The Northeast Lauderdale tandem of Zack Olczak and John Kueven blistered Jackson Wingfield's squad of Ames and Doty, 6-1, 6-3 in the opener.
The second match of the day saw them take out C. Haynes and T. Keaton from Cleveland East Side, 6-2, 6-3.
The highly-touted duo will face Cleveland High's Brian Powell and Brad Hutchison today.
Neshoba Central's Leigh Jackson defeated Pearl High's Farris, 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and Bay High's S. Reed 6-4, 6-1 in match two. Jackson will go up against B. Serrett from St. Martin today.
Class 3A: West Lauderdale's Kyle Naylor lost in first round singles action to New Albany's Kris Davis 6-4, 6-0.
Newton County netter Jarrod Scoggin had a good first day, beating O. Amin from MSMS in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Scoggin continued his run by putting away Brian Buffington of Collins, 6-2, 6-1.
Scoggin moves on to face Davis from New Albany today.
In girls singles action, Newton County's Britley Kimbriel had no trouble with her first round opponent, winning 6-0, 6-0. She then defeated Houston High's top seed, 6-2, 6-3.
Kimbriel advances to face Vinson from Shannon, today.
On the other side of the bracket, defending champ Kelly Boutwell from Forest received a bye and then proceeded to wipe out Magee's Pace, 6-1, 6-3. She will play New Albany's Ingrid Selhausen today. Morning wins by Boutwell and Kimbriel would set up a Forest/NCHS final this afternoon.
In boys doubles, West's team of Andrew Culpepper and Jason Blanks got by Forest County AHS' L. Gillie and J. Lilly, 6-2, 6-1, but were stopped in the second round by Pontotoc's N. Patel and M. Whiteside, 6-2, 7-5.
Newton County's tandem of Brian McDonald and Kennard Johnson was halted in round one, 6-1, 6-1 by Raleigh.
West's Brittney Wright and Brooke Bounds beat won over South Delta by default, but lost to Amory's K. Cother and L. Thelin, 6-3, 6-4 in their second match.
Lady Cougars Melissa Kimbriel and Keri McDill were dropped from the bracket in the opener, 6-3, 6-0 to New Albany's K. Campbell and J. Sappington.
West's mixed doubles Dee Dallas and Jessica Lee advanced to the second round, but no further, winning over New Albany, 6-3, 6-4 and bowing out to Houston, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).
Class 2A: Kirk Thomas of Richton defeated Philadelphia's Deweese 6-4, 6-1.
Newton's girls duo of Amanda McMillan and Brittany Bridges lost to Cathedral's Jennifer Blain and Kelin Hicks, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. You can call him at 693-1551, ext. 3234 or e-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.