Jags impress at state tennis tournament, place 2nd

April 26, 2017 9:05 PM

Sarah Finnegan

MONTGOMERY – Spain Park High School girls tennis coach Amber Lewis called it a historical day.

She’s right.

The Jags tennis team advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history, and instead of wilting under the hot sun and grinding pressure, they persevered and came away with a trophy to show for their efforts.

Spain Park finished runner-up to Mountain Brook in the Class 7A state tournament Monday and Tuesday, April 24-25, at Montgomery’s Lagoon Park, sending the school home with a red map in its initial showing on the biggest stage.

The Jags accumulated four state championships out of nine possible and racked up 35 points. Mountain Brook won with 45 points, and Fairhope finished third with 23 points.

Although it was the first time for the team to make it to state, sisters Daryn and Sydney Ellison had experience at the state tournament, having won it all as a doubles pair in 2016. They made that back-to-back state championship trophies, as the duo won the No. 1 doubles title on Tuesday as well.

Daryn Ellison competed in the No. 1 singles bracket for the third time in the last four years, but ran up against a tough matchup in the first round, and fell in three sets to Sydney Flesch of Huntsville, an eventual finalist.

Spain Park also racked up three singles championships, as Lindsay Song (No. 2), Sydney Ellison (No. 3) and Mychelle Widra (No. 4) won their respective brackets.

Song and Riley Ford put together a great season as a No. 2 doubles pair, and made it to the finals, where Mountain Brook’s Cele Sullivan and Sarah Cooper won in three sets.

Hannah Luther was a semifinalist in No. 5 singles and part of the No. 3 doubles tandem with Widra, while Ford competed for the Jags at No. 6 singles.

Of how her kids handled the state tournament, Lewis was largely pleased with how they responded to the moment.

“Nerves do play a role in it,” she said. “As much as you try to settle them down, they’ve never been there. Overall, they played spectacular. I’m a happy coach.”