Bentonville girls dominate at 7A-West tennis tournament
Posted on Friday, October 10, 2008
BELLA VISTA - Bentonville teammates Anna Bever, Arden Brazzeal, Amy Andersen and Kendall Kraus were the players Thursday for the girls' doubles final at the 7 A-West Conference Tennis Tournament in Bella Vista.
One team, of course, won but all four girls were read the riot act afterward by their hard-charging coach.
"Dog-gone it this is crunch time," coach Paul Pautsch said, just after dismissing Bever and Brazzeal, the No. 1-seeded and winning team in a 6-4, 7-6 decision against No. 2-seeded Andersen and Kraus. "These kids are shooting for something big coming up with a state title on the line. We're going to be facing some real good competition at the state tournament. I hope it means as much to them as it does to me and I don't even have a racket in my hand. "
Brow-beating aside, Pautsch was plenty proud of all four girls and had plenty of good to say to them at the end of the tournament, one dominated by the Lady Tigers.
They had all six players reach the finals (singles and doubles ) and totaled 24 points during the two days of competition to breeze to another conference championship. Fayetteville (7 ), Fort Smith Southside (6 ) and Rogers (4 ) finished second through fourth.
The Class 7 A State Tournament will be held Oct. 20-21 at Burns Park in North Little Rock. Bentonville is trying to win its fourth straight state championship.
Boys Anchored by singles champion John Doohan, Fort Smith Southside won the team title with 15 points. Bentonville finished second with 10, Fayetteville had 8 and Har-Ber had 2. Doohan, the top seed, withstood an early challenge and a bit of controversy in his 7-5, 6-2 win against No. 2 seed Rob Hodous.
Hodous held a lead late in the first set. The sophomore from Fayetteville led 40-15 with a 5-4 lead, but a pair of disputed line calls were part of Doohan's rally to fight off three set points to win the game and eventually the set.
High school tennis matches rely on the players to make their own in-or-out calls. Thursday's line disputes went against each player and riled them both, but it seemed to bother Hodous more as play continued into the second set, FHS coach Darin Phelan said.
Coach and player had a lengthy discussion in private at the end of the match.
"Unfortunately I think it affected him more than it should have," Phelan said. "That's just the youth in tennis and learning how to deal with stuff. When you're playing this game, and it's a gentlemen's game, you have to respect the other guy's calls, no matter if it's right or wrong. That's what we had a discussion about. Hopefully when we go to state we'll take it a little bit better next time."
Doohan, the son of former Arkansas Razorback tennis great Peter Doohan, capitalized on the momentum in the second set. After Hodous double-faulted to fall behind 5-2, Doohan won four straight points to end the match.
"I call it the shark smelling blood in the water," Phelan said. "He smelled the blood and came in. He played aggressive and we kept backing up and he just took it to us."
The Bentonville doubles team of Brandon Ellis and Retz Chapman, both juniors, upset No. 1 seed Scott Rogers and Evan Daniel with ease, winning 6-2, 6-1.
"Those guys have played super well all year long," Pautsch said. "Real nice match for them to win. "7 A-West Conference Tennis Tournament Team champions: Bentonville (girls ); Fort Smith Southside (boys ). Girls singles Oksana Hillyer (BHS ) def. Morgan Ryan (BHS ) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6. Girls Doubles Anna Bever / Arden Brazzeal (BHS ) def. Amy Andersen / Kendall Kraus (BHS ) 6-4, 7-6. Boys Singles John Doohan (FSS ) def. Rob Hodous (FHS ) 7-5, 6-2. Boys Doubles Brandon Ellis / Retz Chapman (BHS ) def. Scott Rogers / Evan Daniel (FSS ) 6-2, 6-1.
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