Vikings roll to victory at Halls Ferry Open
Published 8:00 am Tuesday, March 19, 2019
- John Jabour returns a shot during the Halls Ferry Open tennis tournament Saturday at Halls Ferry Park. Warren Central beat West Ouachita, Madison-St. Joseph and the Jackson Victors to win the round robin team competition. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)
If Warren Central’s tennis team wasn’t encouraged enough by their early-season play, doubling its season win total in a single day might have done the trick.
The Vikings swept three matches from West Ouachita, Madison-St. Joseph and the Jackson Victors on Saturday at the Halls Ferry Open to improve their season record to 7-0.
“Last year’s team was very young and we had some tough growing pains. Last year’s youth has rolled into an experienced, competitive team this year that’s hungry to win and knows how to go out and make it happen,” WC coach Steve Summers said.
Warren Central beat West Ouachita 7-0 in the first portion of the round robin tournament. They then edged the Jackson Victors, a home school team, 4-3 before closing out the tournament with a 5-2 win over Madison-St. Joe.
Laney Smith and Jane Hopson won two of their three girls doubles matches, including 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 against the Victors. That win, combined with another tiebreaker victory from the boys doubles team of Ian Gordon and Steed Springfield, was pivotal to the Vikings’ tournament title.
Gordon and Springfield won 7-6, 1-6, 10-7.
“Those two matches were tough, gritty matches and, ultimately, put us in position to win the tournament,” Summers said.
John Jabour also had an impressive day. He won three doubles matches, each with a different partner. He teamed with Grayson Parman and Steed Springfield in boys doubles matches, and with Audrey Jennings to win a mixed doubles match against the Victors.
Jennings also won two singles matches as well as her mixed doubles outing with Jabour.
Warren Central will play at Pearl on Tuesday, and then hosts Grenada Friday at Halls Ferry Park. Both matches begin at 4 p.m.