CHARLESTON -- State tournament tennis matches begin today with Ross Evans and Darius Hadi from Huntington High and Bethany Law of Cabell Midland among the singles title contenders.
Evans, Hadi and Law all lost in the finals last year and are back to give it another try.
Matches begin at 8:30 a.m. today for Class AAA at the Coonskin Park Tennis Courts and Class AA/A at the Kanawha City Community Center Tennis Courts.
Altogether, Cabell County schools have 16 players entered.
Evans, a Class AAA, Region IV champion, is in the boys No. 1 singles field with a first-round matchup against Ryan Moss of Woodrow Wilson.
Sam Watkins from Cabell Midland also qualified at the No. 1 position. Watkins is paired against Chris Pratt of George Washington.
Huntington High's regional team champions also have Hadi playing No. 2 singles. Hadi, the Region IV winner at No. 2 singles, opens against the winner of a match between Kai Katalau of Robert C. Byrd and Tony Deng from Morgantown.
The Evans/Hadi duo is also playing No. 1 doubles. The Highlanders' pairing of Justin Daniels and Adam Levy was a No. 3 doubles qualifier.
Law was the Region IV winner at girls No. 2 singles. Law will take on the winner between Mandy Chapman of Musselman and Lindsay Jackson of University in the first round.
Cabell Midland's Stephanie Fox, another regional champion, plays in the No. 1 singles draw against Kathy Coker of Woodrow Wilson.
Huntington High has Stephanie Hess, Shannon Lavery and Sarah Cummings playing singles.
Hess and Ashley Thornton from Capital meet in a No. 1 singles first-round matchup. Lavery plays Cortney Bradley of Riverside at No. 2 singles.
Cummings, the regional champion at No. 3 singles, is matched against Johanna Kelly of Riverside.
Girls No. 1 doubles qualifiers include Region IV champions Fox/Law who have a first-round match against the winner between teams from Hedgesville and Morgantown.
The No. 1 doubles duo of Hess/Lavery meets the entry from Riverside. Cummings and partner Allie Steel play at No. 2 doubles against a duo from George Washington.
Lavery was in last year's No. 3 doubles finals.
Class AA/A boys No. 1 singles regional champion Rich Meade from Huntington St. Joe faces Justin House of Independence in the first round.
Wade McGlone from St. Joe is playing No. 2 singles against Tyler Whitmore of Oak Hill.
Meade and McGlone also qualified as the Region IV No. 1 doubles champion.
St. Joe is also sending three girls singles players to the tournament -- No. 1 Frannie Jung, No. 2 Sarah Reger and No. 3 Olivia Macri.
Jung plays Aly Adams of Wyoming East in the first round. Reger faces Madison Hayes of Bluefield. Macri meets Grace Sudduth of Bluefield.
STATE TENNIS QUALIFIERS
CLASS AAA BOYS
No. 1, Ross Evans, Huntington High
No. 1, Sam Watkins, Cabell Midland
No. 2, Darius Hadi, Huntington High
No. 1 doubles, Evans/Hadi, Huntington High
No. 3 doubles, Justin Daniels/Adam Levy, Huntington High
CLASS AAA GIRLS
No. 1 singles, Stephanie Hess, Huntington High
No. 1 singles, Stephanie Fox, Cabell Midland
No. 2 singles, Shannon Lavery, Huntington High
No. 2 singles, Bethany Law, Cabell Midland
No. 2 singles, Sarah Cummings, Huntington High
No. 1 doubles, Hess/Lavery, Huntington High
No. 1 doubles, Fox/Law, Cabell Midland
No. 2 doubles, Cummings/Allie Steel, Huntington High
CLASS AA/A BOYS
No. 1 singles, Rich Meade, Huntington St. Joe
No. 2 singles, Wade McGlone, Huntington St. Joe
No. 1 doubles, Meade/McGlone, Huntington St. Joe
CLASS AA/A GIRLS
No. 1 singles, Frannie Jung, Huntington St. Joe
No. 2 singles, Sarah Reger, Huntington St. Joe
No. 3 singles, Olivia Macri, Huntington St. Joe
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