HUNTINGTON -- Make no mistake, Jim Cummings is a veteran coach.
Name a sport and he's either coached it or had one of his children playing it over the last decade. He is quite comfortable, no matter what sports arena he may be in.
With that said, nothing could have prepared him for his first season as coach of Huntington's girls tennis team.
"I've coached my kids a lot, but at different sports. Tennis itself is different," Cummings said. "It's a little more management and being a coordinator than what you are a coach. Most of these kids take private lessons from someone who knows more than I do about the sport."
It is actually fitting that Cummings is coaching tennis with the sport being so keen on making adjustments mid-stream.
He has made his own adjustments out of his comfort level -- coaching boys -- to trying to figure out the nuances of the teenage female athlete's mind. Like any match, it has had its aces and its double faults.
"Coaching 12 girls is like having 40 or 50 boys," Cummings said. "It's very rewarding but it's always a challenge. It's just like having 12 daughters."
Cummings said that the biggest transition between sports is that if things are going wrong, there really isn't much he can do about it.
"When something is going bad in tennis the girls tend to get down a little bit and you have to make sure they don't throw away two, three or four games while they are sorting it out," Cummings said. "There are only certain times that you can talk to your players and it is only for a brief period of time. You can't pull her out and talk to her or bench her or what-not. It is difficult."
With tennis being a much more individualized sport to coach, human psychology plays a vital role in being able to handle adverse situations. However, Cummings has about as close of a liaison as he could ask for at every practice and every match.
His daughter Sarah is a freshman playing No. 3 singles for the Highlanders and admittedly, one of the more competitive-natured girls on the team.
While Jim Cummings has made the transition from primarily coaching boys in a team sport to coaching girls' tennis, Sarah has had to adapt to life on the tennis court with her father as a coach.
Like her father, transitions don't come easy.
"I give him a lot more attitude than the other girls do, but I still respect him as a coach," Sarah Cummings said. "I probably get in more trouble too."
There was no trouble on Thursday as the Highlanders celebrated a successful day at the state tennis tournament at Kanawha City Community Center Tennis Courts, finishing tied for first in both the boys' and girls' team competition.
Ross Evans and Darius Hadi cruised into the semifinals in singles at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively and also notched a doubles win together to give the Highlanders four points and a tie with Morgantown atop the Class AAA standings.
Evans got a pair of 8-1 victories over Woodrow Wilson's Ryan Moss and Hedgesville's Greg Keiter to move into a semifinal matchup today with George Washington's Chris Pratt, who defeated Cabell Midland's Sam Watkins on Thursday.
On the girls' side, Huntington is tied with Parkersburg with four points while Cabell Midland won all three of its matches on the day to be just one point back.
At No. 1 singles, Cabell Midland's Stephanie Fox convincingly landed a pair of wins to move into the semifinals against George Washington's Erica White. Huntington's Stephanie Hess defeated Capital's Ashley Thornton (8-0) but fell to Jefferson's Katelyn Mumaw (8-6) in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 singles will have a pair of local talents as Huntington's Shannon Lavery and Cabell Midland's Bethany Law advanced to the final four. Lavery, who scored two of Huntington's four wins on Thursday, will face Jefferson's Christina Hammond while Law will meet GW's Alyssa Hackworth.
Cummings got an 8-0 win over Riverside's Johanna Kelly to move into the semifinals at No. 3 singles against University's Jackie Gacek. Hess and Lavery also won their No. 1 doubles match in one of Thursday's final matches.
Huntington St. Joseph's boys scored a pair of wins as Rich Meade defeated Independence's Justin House (8-1) at No. 1 singles while Wade McGlone defeated Oak Hill's Tyler Whitmore 8-0 before falling to Wheeling Central's Victor Greco 8-6 at No. 2 singles.
On the girls' side, St. Joe's Frannie Jung lost to Wyoming East's Aly Adams 8-2 and Sarah Reger lost to Bluefield's Madison Hayes, 8-4.
State tournament action continues today in Charleston beginning at 8 a.m. with singles matches. Championship matches will be decided on Saturday.
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