UIL Tennis: Van’s doubles team of Abby Jones, Faith Kirk places second in Class 4A

Published 5:30 pm Friday, May 17, 2019

Van's girls doubles team of Abby Jones (left) and Faith Kirk (right) won two matches on Thursday in the Class 4A girls doubles state tournament in College Station. The two finished second with a loss in the championship match on Friday. (Van Athletics/Photo)

COLLEGE STATION — Van’s girls doubles team of Abby Jones and Faith Kirk recorded a second-place finish in Class 4A at the UIL State Tennis Tournament at Texas A&M’s Mitchell Tennis Center.

After consecutive two-set wins on Thursday, Jones and Kirk fell to Boerne’s Georgia Rice and Catherine Coe in the state title match (6-1, 6-0) on Friday morning.



It was the second straight year for Jones to appear at the state tournament. This year Jones teamed with Kirk to win the silver.

Also, it was Van head tennis coach Melissa Wells’ final match as she is retiring at the end of the school year.

To reach the finals, Jones and Kirk won matches over Chelsea Wilson and Rylie Helm of Midlothian Heritage 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and over the Canyon team of Taren Wells and Aubrey Thomas, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the semifinals. 

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Longview Spring Hill’s Lexi Penn won the Class 4A girls singles title over Decatur’s Lenka Okasova (6-1, 6-2).

Penn defeated Palestine’s Monique Ybarra in the semifinals, 7-6 (4), 6-1, on Thursday.

In Class 2A, Mason had at least one entry in all five championship matches. In mixed doubles, girls doubles and boys doubles, the championship match was Mason against Mason. Mason also had the state champion in boys singles and had the runner-up in girls singles.

UIL State Tennis Tournament

Texas A&M’s Mitchell Tennis Center, College Station

State Championships

Class 6A

Boys Singles — Carter Crookston, League City Clear Creek, def. Kyle Totorica, San Antonio Reagan, 6-4, 6-2.

Boys Doubles — Jaycer Lyeons/David Peters, Fort Bend Clements, def. Cole Rassner/Drew Shuvalov, Houston Memorial, 6-2, 7-5.

Girls Singles — Megha Dania, Lake Travis, def. Jessica Lu, Round Rock Westwood, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Girls Doubles — Anisha Apte/Gabby Cusano, Austin Vandegrift, def. Melissa Vizcardo/Avery Hilbig, The Woodlands, 6-2, 6-3.

Mixed Doubles — Caden Moortgat/Emma Gener, Plano West, def. Kiana Graham/Gaurav Singh, Round Rock Westwood, 6-3, 6-3.

Class 5A

Boys Singles — Brandon Do, Nederland, def. Jered Wilson, Red Oak, 6-1, 6-4.

Boys Doubles — Joey Tindall/Henning Schade, College Station A&M Consolidated, def. Jackson Harwell/Tauber Short, Amarillo, 7-5, 6-3.

Girls Singles — Bridget Stammel, Dallas Highland Park, def. Val Navarro, San Antonio Burbank, 6-2, 6-2.

Girls Doubles — Fiona Crawley/Brianna Wilbur, San Antonio Alamo Heights, def. Annika Juergens/Lizann Boyer, Dallas Highland Park, 7-5, 6-2.

Mixed Doubles — Cole Burnam/Katherine Petty, Dallas Highland Park, def. Rhett Bailey/Ashlee Newton, Dallas Highland Park, 6-4, 6-0.

Class 4A

Boys Singles — Siddhartha Movva, Irving North Hills Prep, def. Ryan Koth, Boerne, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Boys Doubles — Asher Melton/Bryce Ware, Canyon, def. Adam Grocholski/Jace Ware, Pampa, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Girls Singles — Lexi Penn, Longview Spring Hill, def. Lenka Okasova, Decatur, 6-1, 6-2.

Girls Doubles — Georgia Rice/Cat Coe, Boerne, def. Abby Jones/Faith Kirk, Van, 6-1, 6-0.

Mixed Doubles — BT White/Sarah Castleberry, Vernon, def. Reid Smith/Karson Parnell, Pampa, 5-7, 6-0, 6-0.

Class 3A

Boys Singles — Jack Marshall, Brady, def. Tyler Webb, Holliday, 6-3, 6-4.

Boys Doubles — Colton Chitsey/Shawn Labedelle, Wall, def. Jason Cabe/Jacob Clark, Brownfield, 6-2, 6-4.

Girls Singles — Lea Karren, Jourdanton, def. Sara Humpal, Corpus Christi London, 6-1, 6-3.

Girls Doubles — Kylee Laverty/Katy Redder, Brock, def. Sadie Dearing/Remington Jackson, Ponder, 6-4, 6-3.

Mixed Doubles — Devon Whitsel/Reyna Gonzales, Rockdale, def. Austin Fairchild/Caryle Pfiester, Ingram Moore, 6-3, 6-1.

Class 2A

Boys Singles — Matthew Kerr, Mason, def. Christian Dubec, Thrall, 6-3, 6-0.

Boys Doubles — Roman Coe/Ethan Powell, Mason, def. Kyle Montoya/Slone Stultz, Mason, no score available.

Girls Singles — Landry Laywell, Thorndale, def. Kate Gillespie, Mason, 6-0, 6-0.

Girls Doubles — Maddy Heath/Parker Standard, Mason, def. Megan Canfield/Sterling Smith, Mason, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Mixed Doubles — Rudy Rochat/Raegan Glentz, Mason, def. Chet Weitz/Bailey Taylor, Mason, 6-0, 6-1.

Class 1A

Boys Singles — Texas Schmidt, Barksdale Nueces Canyon, def. Cy Middleton, Happy, 6-4, 7-6 (0).

Boys Doubles — Jason Samarripa/Vincent Zavala, Knippa, def. Nathan Chacon/Andrew Dareing, Mertzon Irion County, 6-4, 6-4.

Girls Singles — Jaden Coston, Slidell, def. Madison Starkweather, Comstock, 6-3, 6-2.

Girls Doubles — Maddie Gfeller/April Schmucker, Nazareth, def. Abby Geye/Caryn Lawrence, Rising Star, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Mixed Doubles — Cambrie Heiman/Jake Gerber, Nazareth, def. Olivia Faust/Luke Alejandro, Knippa, 6-2, 6-1.