11 Warren Central tennis players earn spots in state tournament
Published 9:35 am Thursday, March 27, 2025
- Warren Central's tennis team stands together for a photo after winning a match earlier this season. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
It was almost a clean sweep for Warren Central at the MHSAA Region 2-6A tennis tournament.
The Vikings won the boys singles and mixed doubles championships, and advanced both of their boys and girls doubles teams to the finals of those brackets at the tournament played Wednesday in Madison.
The doubles finals were played Thursday in Vicksburg, after the bracket set up an all-WC match-up late in the evening Wednesday. Brady Taylor and Gray Lampkin won the boys doubles championship, and Avery Hern and Amelia King the girls doubles title .
Both doubles pairs beat their Warren Central teammates in three-set thrillers. Taylor and Lampkin beat Sam Harris and Luke Bond 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8), while Hern and King defeated Sydney Sullivan and Lilli Feibelman 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8).
All four doubles teams advanced to the Class 6A individual tournament April 14 in Oxford, as did three of their teammates. The top two finishers in each event advance to the state tournament.
Warren Central will also host a first-round match in the team tournament next week. The MHSAA runs separate brackets for the team and individual playoffs.
Charles Harris and Ellie Tennison won twice to take the mixed doubles title. They beat Neshoba Central’s Denver Lovern and Graci Bryan 7-5, 6-3 in the finals.
Ivan Ozherelev won his first boys singles match 6-0, 6-0, then rallied to beat Neshoba Central’s Colin Crenshaw 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 in a third-set tiebreaker to win the championship.
The only non-Warren Central player to win a region championship was also the only Vicksburg High player to advance to the state tournament. Kennedy Mullins rolled to a pair of straight-set victories to take the girls’ singles title.
Mullins beat Warren Central’s Laura Bailey 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals, and then Neshoba Central’s Halle Montgomery 7-5, 6-2 in the finals.