Vicksburg's Mullins, WC's Sullivan and Bond claim Region 2-6A tennis titles - The Vicksburg Post

Vicksburg’s Mullins, WC’s Sullivan and Bond claim Region 2-6A tennis titles

Published 12:04 pm Sunday, April 14, 2024

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Vicksburg High's Kennedy Mullins chases down a shot during a girls' singles match at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Sydney Sullivan hits a shot during a mixed doubles match at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tennis tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Luke Bond hits a shot during a mixed doubles match at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tennis tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Sydney Sullivan waits for a serve during a mixed doubles match at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tennis tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Kameryn Bailey serves during a mixed doubles match at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tennis tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Avery Hern serves during a girls' singles match at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tennis tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Amnesty Tyler hits a shot during a mixed doubles match Friday in the MHSAA Region 2-6A tournament at Halls Ferry Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

When the MHSAA Class 6A state tennis tournament comes to Vicksburg later this month, five players will have homecourt advantage.

Warren Central’s Luke Bond and Sydney Sullivan won the mixed doubles championship, Brady Taylor and Sam Harris finished second in boys’ doubles, and Vicksburg High’s Kennedy Mullins won the girls’ singles title at the Region 2-6A tournament Friday at Halls Ferry Park.

All five advanced to the Class 6A individual tournament that will be held at Halls Ferry Park April 23 and 24. The top two finishers in each region advanced to the state tournament.

The Class 4A and 7A tournaments will also be in Vicksburg, and the team playoff finals in those classes are April 22. Warren Central is still alive in the Class 6A team playoffs as well, and will go on the road Thursday to play Saltillo.

Sullivan and Bond stayed hot as the postseason began. They ran their winning streak as a mixed doubles pairing to six consecutive matches by beating Ridgeland’s Harlen Pickett and Kelly Herring 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals, and then grinding out a tiebreaker win against Columbus’ Alexandria McGee and Jonathan Ross 3-6, 6-4, 10-3 in the championship match.

Vicksburg’s Kam Bailey and Amnesty Tyler beat Neshoba Central’s Gracianna Alexander and Harrison McGowen 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, then lost 6-4, 6-1 to McGee and Ross in the second round.

In the boys’ doubles bracket, Taylor and Harris won twice to reach the finals before falling 6-3, 6-7, 10-7 to Callaway’s Joshua Johnson and Angel Lagunas.

Vicksburg’s Khaleb Bailey and Gabriel Thompson won their boys’ doubles opener 6-4, 6-0, but lost to Neshoba Central’s Denver Lovern and Colin Crenshaw 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.

Mullins, meanwhile, zoomed through the girls’ singles bracket with ease. She only dropped one game in claiming the title, beating Warren Central’s Avery Hern 6-0, 6-0 and Neshoba Central’s Halle Montgomery 6-0, 6-1.

In the other brackets, Neshoba Central’s girls’ doubles team of Jaci Willis and Graci Bryan beat Warren Central’s Ellie Tennison and Lilli Feibelman 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 in the semifinals and then went on to defeat their teammates Keely Parrett and Jaylen Sisson 6-2, 6-3 in the championship match.

Warren Central’s Laura Bailey and Amelia King, as well as Vicksburg’s Mekhayia Smith and Madysin Bailey, won their first-round matches but lost in the second round.

In boys’ singles, Warren Central’s Ivan Ozherelev beat Vicksburg’s Trenton Davis 6-0, 6-0 in the first round before losing to Ridgeland’s Elijah Burks in the semifinals. Neshoba Central’s Talbott Sistrunk then beat Burks in the championship match.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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