SHS SENIORS EYEING A RETURN TO STATE TOURNEY

A senior-laden Southside tennis squad got experience at the 7A State Tournament last season, and coach Braden Eads is banking on another strong postseason showing. The Mavericks concluded the regular season with a sweep against cross-town rival Northside on Thursday at Creekmore Park. The Southside girls handed the Lady Bears their first loss of the season, even though the score was tied at 2-2, the Mavericks were awarded the win because they gave up three fewer games, while the boys won their match. “We have lots of seniors this year, so we’ve got a lot of leadership,” Eads said. “Overall, we’ve had a very good season and we’ve worked hard. We’ve won a lot of matches this year, which I’m very happy with. A couple of them got away which I obviously would have liked (to have back), but we’ve had a lot of kids step up this year from last year. “With the conference tournament coming up, I think we’ve got a lot of good experience from last year; we had a lot of people go to state last year, so I’m looking for them to make it back to state this year.” Last season, of a possible 12 players, the Mavericks sent nine to state. Among those hoping for a return trip this season is the No. 1 boys’ singles player, Ethan Eddleman, who reached the 7A semifinals a year ago. Eddleman, a 6-foot-3 senior who plans to sign to play tennis at UAFS, won his match, 8-3, against Northside’s Lex Michael. “I was able to get pushed a lot and still be able to come through and pull off the win,” Eddleman said. Eddleman added he feels like he is playing his best tennis going into the 7A-Central conference tournament, which will be held Monday and Tuesday in Little Rock. “It’s been going pretty good; I’ve had a few rough patches but other than that, it’s starting to kick up a little bit and I’m feeling better. ... A lot better than at the beginning of the year,” Eddleman said. “Basically, I just trusted my shots and stopped thinking too much, thinking about the technique so much and just swinging. ... The mental game (has also worked lately), just figuring out the weaknesses and attacking those, trying to fit my strengths into their weakness so I can set up my strength to really pound their weakness, so that’s been working for me.”

SHS SENIORS EYEING A RETURN TO STATE TOURNEY

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 9/29/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell