FAYETTEVILLE — Bentonville coach Paul Pautsch assembled the Tigers and Lady Tigers tennis teams for a pep talk before semifinal play at the Class 7A State Tournament at the Billingsley Tennis Center Tuesday morning. Pautsch also asked those Bentonville parents in attendance to join in.
Near the end of his talk, Pautsch asked how many players, or parents, had ever won a state championship. Three answered in the affirmative.
That number is now nine.
Amy Anderson and Kendall Kraus roared to the doubles championship and senior Oksana Hillyer was the singles runner-up for the second straight year as the Lady Tigers captured the state championship with 13 points. Mount St. Mary was second with nine points.
The Lady Tigers have won four of the last five state championships and Pautsch has guided the school to six state titles since 1993.
Anderson and Kraus defeated Jessica and Jennifer Word of Van Buren 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals before ending with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Little Rock Central’s Lindsey Liles and Trinity Randolph.
“I said I had the best doubles team (Anderson-Kraus) in the state all year long, and they came out and played that way,” Pautsch said. “They were an absolutely phenomenal doubles team for the last two years.”
Mount St. Mary’s Rebecca Bailey defeated Hillyer in the finals for the second straight year after posting a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Bailey defeated Bentonville’s Morgan Ryan 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.
The Bentonville boys finished in second after leading the tournament after Monday’s first two rounds. Little Rock Central won the school’s 11th consecutive title, edging the Tigers 12-11. The Bentonville doubles team of sophomores Matt Tabler and Zach Ellis won the doubles title but the Tigers watched Central’s Mario Martinez defeat Fayetteville’s Rob Hodous in the singles final to give Central the championship.
Martinez overcame severe cramping to defeat Hodous 6-4, 1-6 ,7-6 (7-5). Both players will advance to next week’s Overall Championships.
“I drank too much Gatorade and it made me cramp, so I had to change my strategy,” Martinez said. “I can’t run to the ball and I had to take the angles away. I was really glad that I was able to pull it out at the end. I was never going to quit. I’m representing the school.”
Ellis and Tabler defeated Central’s Bobby Emerson and Austin Crawford 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to run their record to 15-0 on the year. They also advance to the Overall Championships.
“Those two sophomores came out and they absolutely played their guts out,” Pautsch said. “They could have rolled over. They were way up, and then they got down. They could have quit but they didn’t.”
CLASS 7A STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Boys Singles
Semifinals
Hodous, Fayetteville defeated Fox, LR Catholic 6-2, 6-0
Martinez, LR Central defeated Blake, FS Southside 7-5, 6-2
Finals
Martinez defeated Hodous 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Boys Doubles
Semifinals
Z. Ellis-Tabler, Bentonville defeated Bagwell-Dunn, Van Buren 6-4, 7-5
Emerson-Crawford, LR Central defeated B. Ellis-Shah, Bentonville 6-3, 6-4.
Finals
Z. Ellis-Tabler defeated Emerson-Crawford 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Girls Singles
Semifinals
Hillyer, Bentonville defeated Gray, Russellville 6-1, 6-2
Bailey, Mount St. Mary’s defeated Ryan, Bentonville 6-1, 6-2
Finals
Bailey defeated Hillyer 6-0, 6-3
Girls Doubles
Semifinals
Anderson-Kraus, Bentonville defeated Word-Word, Van Buren 6-1, 6-4
Liles-Randolph, LR Central defeated Skinner-Kincannon, FS Southside 6-1, 7-5
Finals
Anderson-Kraus defeated Liles-Randolph 6-2, 6-0
TEAM STANDINGS
Boys
1-Little Rock Central 12
2-Bentonville 11
3-Fayetteville 7
4-Fort Smith Southside 3
5-Little Rock Catholic 2
5-Van Buren 2
7-Rogers High 1
Girls
1-Bentonville 13
2-Mount St. Mary’s 9
3-FS Southside 4
3-Little Rock Central 4
5-Russellville 2
5-Van Buren 2
7-Rogers High 1
7-Rogers Heritage 1
