Published: May 16, 2008 10:45 am         

Several still alive in quarterfinals of region tennis tourney

Tournament continues Friday and Saturday at Whitley Co.

WILLIAMSBURG—Several county tennis players have advanced to the quarterfinals of the 13th Region tennis tournament, which resumes today at Whitley County High School.

The event will wrap-up on Saturday.

The lone male playing today in singles will be No. 3 seeded Blake Walden of South Laurel, as he is set to meet No. 5 seed Taylor Jones of Corbin.

After receiving a first-round bye, Walden advanced to the second round, where he beat North Laurel’s Nathan Eberhardt, 6-0, 6-0. Eberhardt had beaten Anthony Hensley of Bell Co., 6-1, 6-3 in his opening match.

North Laurel’s Brad Baker lost to Andrew Abner of Knox Central, 7-5, 7-6 (5), while Dustin Herron of South Laurel beat Noah Robinson of Middlesboro, 6-2, 6-2, then fell to No. 4 seed William Tan of Whitley County, 6-1, 6-1.

“Both our boys singles players got tough draws,” North coach Bobby Smith said. “Brad drew the No. 6 seed right off the bat, and he played one of, if not his best match of the year. I’m really happy with his performance.”

Smith noted the Eberhardt got a win in his first match, which then moved him on to face No. 3 Walden. “He didn’t back down, but Blake was just too good.”

In doubles, two North Laurel teams and one from South Laurel are still alive in the tournament.

The Jaguar duo of James Montgomery and Gil Bagang, seeded second, will face South Laurel’s team of Mason Smith/Derek Turner today. The North team beat Canady/Broughton of Knox Central, 6-1, 7-5, while Smith and Turner downed Robbins and Wilson of Bell County, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

North Laurel’s Max Swartz/Alex Douglas beat Clay County’s Hoskins/Hoskins, 7-6 (5), 7-5, then downed Lowrie/Kelly of Whitley County, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5. They will take on Akers and Uy, the No. 4 seeded team out of Middlesboro, today. South Laurel’s Robbie Fiefhaus/Seth Morgan lost their match to No. 1 seeded Freeman/Crawford of Corbin, 6-0, 6-0.

“James and Gil had a scare in the second set, but they moved on to the quarters with a win,” Smith said. “We have Smith and Turner up next for a place in the semis, and I know we’ll be ready. They’re another dangerous team that stands in the way of our dream, and we’ll need to play well. Max and Alex advanced to today’s action by winning two tight matches. They are now 4-0 on the season in three-set matches. Simply put, they’re winners.”

In girls’ singles, two South Laurel players will see action today, as both No. 5 seed Lyndsay Collette and Whitney Gay advanced to the quarterfinals.

Collette downed Anna Tanner of Bell Co., 6-0, 6-0 after receiving a first-round bye. She will face Sarah Burchell of Clay Co., the No. 2 seed, today. Gay beat Kellianne Doan of Harlan, 6-2, 6-0, then downed Mallory Garrison of Clay Co., 6-3, 6-4. She will now face No. 1 seed Jessica Baker of Knox Central.

North Laurel’s Rachael Lewis lost to Chelsea Smith of Pineville, 6-1, 6-1, while Pooja Kanthawar fell to Clair Croley of Williamsburg, 6-2, 6-2.

“Rachael had a tough match,” Smith said. “Smith is a nice player. Pooja played against Williamsburg’s top player, and she was just a little too strong for us.”

Two doubles teams, one for South and one from North, also advanced to the quarterfinals. North Laurel’s Mikaela Prichard/Makenzie Prichard, the No. 6 seeds, and South Laurel’s Emily Abner/Brianna Smith, the No. 5 seeds will both be in action today.

The Prichards beat Perkins/West of Williamsburg, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, and will now face No. 1 seeded Smith and Gray of Clay County. Smith and Abner beat Bargo/Woods of Knox Central, 6-0, 6-2, and are now set to face No. 4 seeds, Bryant/Paul of Whitley County today.

South Laurel’s Adriana Turner/Morgan Brown lost to Wilson/Mohan of Middlesboro, 6-2, 0-6, 6-0, while Keely McWhorter/Erica Mamauag of North Laurel fell 6-0, 6-0 to No. 2 seed Maiden/Goodman of Middlesboro.

“Mikaela and Makenzie can definitely play better,” Smith said. “They got through their match in a third set. That was the encouraging thing to take from this match—that we advanced despite not playing very well. Now we move on to play against the No. 1 seed from Clay County. We’ll definitely have to play better to compete against them, and I think we will. If we play our best, we can make things interesting.” Smith added that McWhorter and Mamauag got the toughest draw of anybody having to face the No. 2 seed in their first match.