Rebels finish with runner-up trophy

The Vestavia Hills High School girls tennis team nearly captured the program’s first state championship since 2016.

After all six singles brackets and three doubles brackets were played to conclusion, Vestavia Hills and Auburn were deadlocked with 30 points at the Class 7A state tournament April 20 at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.

Auburn won two of the three playoff matches used to decide the tiebreaker, but Vestavia Hills took home a state runner-up trophy to cap off a tremendous season. Florence and Hoover finished in a tie for third.

Lynley Threadcraft took home the title at No. 4 singles for the Rebels, defeating Missy Hartwig of Huntsville in the final. Threadcraft was one of four Rebels individuals to reach the final, with a doubles pair also making it to the title match.

At No. 1 singles, Cindy Jiang reached the final, falling 6-4, 6-1 to Oak Mountain’s Grace Qian. Della Tarn fell to Auburn’s Camilla Bosman 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 3 final. Ella Clae Fulton was defeated by Kathryn Kirklan of Auburn 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5. At No. 2 doubles, Kate Morros and Emma Smith made the final, falling just short against the Hoover duo of Sara Lopez and Chinonye Mbanugo.

Morros was a semifinalist in No. 2 singles and Nancy Then reached the semifinals in No. 6 singles. Jiang and Then played No. 1 doubles, while Fulton and Tarn were the No. 3 doubles team for the Rebels.

Vestavia Hills lost just two matches all season, falling to 6A state champion Mountain Brook and to Hoover. But the Rebels won the Section 3 tournament, giving them the confidence they needed to make a run at the state title.

Stacey Thomas, who coached the team for the first time this season, said the team was quite youthful but never let that slow the girls down. Jiang and Morros were the only two players on the team that had previously played at the state tournament.

“The rest of the entire team, this was their first experience,” Thomas said. “It was a good group.”

There were no seniors on this year’s team, so everybody will return next year, making the Rebels one of the early favorites to win it all next spring. Thomas said this squad has “tremendous potential” moving forward.

“They are going to feel the sting of [finishing second], but this is going to make them better next year.”

Thomas said a lineup change forced by extenuating circumstances worked out for the best for the Rebels. Smith, a star basketball player for the Rebels, ended up with Morros in the No. 2 doubles bracket, and that duo nearly won it all. Smith just recently started playing competitive tennis.

“She’ll be even better [next year],” Thomas said.

Thomas has taught math at Vestavia Hills for the past 14 years and is set to retire after this year. She wishes she would have found her way to the tennis program sooner and said this experience has been one of the most fulfilling things throughout her career. 

“I’m going to retire but I wish I could have done this more years,” she said.

Thomas also gave great credit to Andrew Bryant, a tennis pro who helps coach the technical aspects of the game for the Rebels.