1 of 2
Photo by Kyle Parmley
The Vestavia Hills High School boys tennis team won the Class 7A state title Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at Mobile Tennis Center.
2 of 2
Photo by Kyle Parmley
The Vestavia Hills High School girls tennis team won the Class 7A state title Tuesday April 19, 2022, at Mobile Tennis Center.
MOBILE – The Vestavia Hills High School tennis programs are no strangers to state tournament success.
But the Rebels did something Tuesday only matched once before in school history, as the boys and girls tennis teams swept the Class 7A state titles at the Mobile Tennis Center.
“It’s pretty special that the boys and girls can share this one,” said Oliver Aaron, the first-year coach of the Vestavia boys team.
It was the seventh title for the boys and the 12th for the girls program, but the second time both won it all in the same year, matching the 2013 season. The boys’ title was the first since 2019 and the girls’ was the first since 2016.
Timarie Fisk returned to coach the girls team this season for the first time since 2014 as well. She was the girls coach in 2013, when both teams won it all.
“That’s the best part,” Fisk said. “We could share in moments together and help each team feel the push of each team. They were a huge help. The boys are a great asset to have out here. There’s nothing like winning a state championship with your own.”
Vestavia Hills’ boys held a slim lead over Hoover after the first day of the state tournament and played well over the second day to clinch the title over the runner-up Buccaneers.
“We got a good bit of momentum the first day and that helped us roll through the second day,” said Ryan Pearlman, one of three singles winners for the Vestavia boys.
Pearlman won in the No. 3 singles bracket, with Kade Nelson winning at No. 4 and Luke Bedwell winning at No. 5.
The boys swept the doubles competitions, with the tandems of Jake Anthony and Pearlman, John Michael Yanosky and Nelson, and Drew Castleberry and Kyle Norris all taking home doubles titles.
“It was really electric, just the atmosphere of being here at state in Mobile and having our team always behind our back,” Norris said.
In singles play, Anthony knocked off Gavin Jordan of Daphne 6-0, 6-1 in the opening round of No. 1 singles before falling to Bob Jones’ Parker Free in the ensuing round. At No. 2, Yanosky beat Auburn’s Jisung Choo before falling to Hoover’s Isaac Hwangpo.
In the No. 3 bracket, Pearlman beat Daphne’s Maddox Marino and Auburn’s Carter Chase to reach the final, where he defeated Hoover’s Gavin Patton 6-4, 6-0. On the way to the No. 4 title, Nelson beat Ashwin Prabhakar of Bob Jones, Huntsville’s Jacob Corrigan and Hoover’s Matthew Hajazin (6-4, 6-1) in the final.
Bedwell beat Huntsville’s Grant Herr 6-0, 6-3 in the final after defeating Bob Jones’ Hunter Johnston and Auburn’s Davis Jackson. Castleberry reached the No. 6 final after beating Bob Jones’ Joe Aldridge and Enterprise’s Kyle Stevens. He fell to Auburn’s Kevin Yan 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 in a final that went the distance.
The Vestavia girls dominated the competition, winning five of the six singles brackets and two of the three doubles titles. Auburn finished as the runner-up.
Ansley Cox won the No. 2 singles title with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Huntsville’s Stella Stephens in the final, beating Auburn’s Camilla Bosman and Enterprise’s Riley Stewart to get there. Kate Morros won the No. 3 final in a third-set tiebreak over Hoover’s Kristina Hwangpo. She took care of Enterprise’s Lola Bruce and Huntsville’s Zoey Lapidus to reach the final.
In No. 4 singles, Madison Standifer beat Auburn’s Shreya Ejantkar 6-2, 6-1 in the final after defeating Abby Gobbels of Hoover and Abigail Carlson of Daphne in the earlier rounds. Kenley Outzen had to win a third-set tiebreaker 10-3 to knock off Auburn’s Hanbi Youn. Outzen beat Hoover’s Sowmya Suresh and Punarvi Mandadapu of James Clemens as well. Caroline Helms won in No. 6 singles with victories over Abbigail Upchurch (Enterprise), Lydia Clark (Huntsville) and Victoria Choo (Auburn).
The doubles tandems of Cox and Outzen and Morros and Nancy Chen were able to win in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles brackets. Cox and Outzen took down a tandem from Auburn in the final, while Morros and Chen beat a pair from Huntsville. Morros and Chen were forced to win an opening set tiebreaker in the semifinals as well.
Cindy Jiang advanced to the final in No. 1 singles, while the No. 1 doubles pair of Jiang and Standifer fell to the eventual champion in the semifinals.
Jiang, Morros and Emma Smith are the three seniors for the girls team and played a significant role this season, Fisk said.
Smith was unable to play much this year due to basketball season running into the first week of March, but was beside her team the whole way throughout the postseason with an abundance of support.
Fisk lauded Jiang for her toughness playing in the No. 1 slot and her ability to bear down when things get tough. Morros also had to exhibit plenty of toughness during the state tournament, as the team captain was forced to win a couple tiebreakers on her way to a singles and doubles title.
