Russellville High School tennis teams compete at state tournament in Mobile
The Russellville High School varsity boys and girls tennis teams recently competed in the AHSAA Class 4A-5A state tournament held at the Mobile Tennis Center to finish a highly successful season.
Both squads finished fourth in team competition after rain delayed the start of play. Sofia Tiffin accomplished a feat never done before by an RHS girl by playing in the state finals in both singles and doubles in the same year.
The RHS girls, led by head coach Charlotte Dollar and assistant LeAnn Strickland, finished with 35 team points. UMS-Wright took the blue map trophy with 83 points and Donoho was runner-up with 43. LAMP finished just ahead of Russellville with 37 points.
For Russellville, Peyton Parrish advanced to the semi-finals in No. 1 singles. No. 2 Tiffin was state runner-up to Carol Murray of UMS-Wright by a 6-1, 6-1 score. No. 3 Sarah Kate Kiel made it to the semis as did No. 4 Kinsley Palmer. Also participating at state for RHS was No. 5 Kaitlin Speck and No. 6 Lily Cate Pace.
In doubles for Russellville, the No. 1 dynamic duo of Parrish/Tiffin played in the finals against Sarah Ladd/Carol Murray of UMS-Wright falling 6-2, 6-1. No. 2 doubles Kiel/Speck and No. 3 doubles Palmer/Pace also saw action on the courts at state.
On the boys’ side, Russellville finished with 30 points and received the sportsmanship award under the leadership of head coach Benjamin Phillips and assistant Kevin Strickland. Taking the state title was LAMP with 70 points and Houston Academy took the red map with 55. Finishing third was Jasper with 40 points.
In singles, No. 3 David Tomas and No. 4 Ayden Boyd were both semi-finalists for RHS while No. 5 Bryan Ruiz and No. 6 Bralynn Vincent were quarter-finalists. Also seeing action at state for Russellville in singles was No. 1 Reece Carson and No. 2 Josue Tomas.
The RHS doubles No. 1 team of Carson/Josue Tomas played in the quarter-finals while No. 2 Vincent/David Tomas and No. 3 Malachi Duncan/Boyd advanced to the semis.
