State competition in tennis recently took place on the courts of the Mobile Tennis Center, and the Russellville High School girls’ and boys’ teams were there after qualifying with second-place team finishes in sectionals.

The Russellville girls, led by head coach Charlotte Dollar, finished up the tournament April 23 and won the sportsmanship award. The RHS ladies finished in 11th place out of 16 teams with 12 points. The state championship went to the Montgomery Academy squad that finished with 73 points. Deshler, representing Section 7 along with Russellville, finished in fourth place with 36 team points.

In No. 2 singles, Russellville’s Emma Claire Bragwell defeated American Christian’s McKensie Moore 6-2 and 6-1 and then went on to beat Chilton County’s Lauren Horton 6-2 and 6-2.

Ellyse Strickland represented RHS in No. 3 singles, and she beat Maya Guru of Altamont 6-3 and 6-0. No. 4 Peyton Parrish took down ACA’s Ava Thomason 6-4 and 7-6 and followed that up with a win over Deshler’s Karsen Kelley 6-4, 4-6 and 6-1.

In No. 5 singles, Kaydee Holland won over Rachel Stuckey 6-0 and 6-0. Anna Woods also participated in No. 1 singles, and Natalie Busler took part in No. 6 singles for Russellville.

The RHS doubles teams of Woods/Strickland, Bragwell/Parrish and Holland/Miller all dropped their first matches.

On the boys’ courts, Russellville finished in 10th place as a team with seven points. Coach Brett Voss’ team finished just behind Section 7 winner West Point. The Warriors had 10 points and finished in ninth spot. The 4A-5A team title also went to the Montgomery Academy team, with 66 points.

In No. 3 singles, Russellville’s Kiah Derrick defeated Ben Holman of Satsuma 6-1 and 6-1, while Tino Soto beat Satsuma’s Tyrek Cunningham 6-4 and 6-3 in No. 5 singles.

No. 1 Ethan Howard, No. 2 Anthony Ruiz, No. 4 Samuel Franklin and No. 6 Eduardo Vargas Carillo all lost their opening matches, as did all three RHS doubles teams, consisting of Howard/Derrick, Ruiz/Franklin and Soto/Vargas Carillo.