By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
April 30, 2001
Area high school tennis teams will be represented in 18 events in the Mississippi High School Activities Association's state tennis tournament today and Tuesday in Jackson.
Meridian, West Lauderdale, and Newton County each qualified in four events, while Forest will compete in two. Northeast Lauderdale, Neshoba Central, Philadelphia, and Newton each advanced to state in one event.
In Class 5A, Meridian has qualified in four events. David Ray will face Warren Central in the first round of boys' singles. In girls' singles, Kourtney Harris will take on Gulfport in the first round. In girls' doubles, Erin Brown and Lena Helms meet Starkville in first-round action. And in mixed doubles, Ramey Rush and Michael Seto will play Tupelo's Courtney Holliday and Scott Duncan in the opening round.
West Lauderdale and Newton County will be battling it out in the Class 3A Tournament with four events filled by each team.
In boys' singles, West's Kyle Naylor will open with New Albany, while Newton County's Jarrod Scoggin will take on Mississippi School for Math &Science.
In girls' singles, Newton County's Britley Kimbriel advanced to state as did Forest's Kelly Boutwell.
In 3A boys' doubles are West's Andrew Culpepper and Jason Blanks and Newton County's Brian McDonald and Kennard Johnson. West opens with Forrest County AHS, while Newton County gets Raleigh for its first-round match.
In girls' doubles, Newton County's Melissa Kimbriel and Keri McDill and West's Brittany Wright and Brooke Bounds advanced to state. The Newton County girls will play New Albany in the first round.
West's Dee Dallas and Jessica Lee advanced to state in 3A mixed doubles and will meet New Albany in opening round action. The mixed doubles team from Forest also qualified for the state tournament.
Making the Class 4A state tournament is the Northeast Lauderdale boys' doubles team of Zack Olczak and John Kueven. They open with Jackson Wingfield.
Also in 4A, Neshoba Central's Leigh Jackson faces Pearl in the first round of girls' singles.
In Class 2A are Philadelphia's Sam Deweese in boys' singles and Newton's Amanda McMillan and Brittany Bridges in girls' doubles. Deweese's first match is with Kirk Thomas of Richton, while McMillan and Bridges have Natchez Cathedral's Jennifer Blain and Kelin Hendricks in the first round.
No area players advanced to the state tournament in Class 1A.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com.