Jonesboro proves it’s a ‘tennis town’

HOT SPRINGS — For the fourth consecutive year, Jonesboro clinched the Class 5A state tennis championship for both girls and boys, winning every singles final at Hot Springs Lakeside on Tuesday.

Junior Jenna Payne picked up her third consecutive girls singles title, and freshman Joseph Patton held on to defeat top-seeded Ben Hollis of Lakeside in three sets.

The girls doubles team of Lauren Guadamuz and Peyton Mullins took a 6-2, 6-1 win over West Memphis’ Samantha Holt and Taylor Brossett, while the top-seeded boys doubles team of Ethan Richardson and Carson Fowler defeated teammates Ryan Rouse and Win Gibson in the finals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

“Jonesboro’s a tennis town,” Jonesboro Coach Jason Morgan said. “There’s a bunch of different tennis programs in town, so they’re always bringing new kids along every year. They start young in our town, and so winning tennis here, it’s important to us, for sure.”

Lakeside finished as runner-up in both boys and girls, but Coach Shawny Green feels her players gave it their all.

“I’m happy with it,” she said. “I think Ben played his little heart out. He just ran out of gas a little there at the end. I’m super proud of him. If they played again, it might go the other way.”

Payne jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set of her final against Little Rock Parkview’s Emmory Simmons, but Simmons managed to come back to take the third game before Payne rolled to a 6-1 win of the first set.

“The first three games of every set are definitely the hardest,” Payne said. “I’ve played this girl before, so I kind of knew how she played, and it was a little nerve-wracking because in the back of your mind, even though you shouldn’t think it, you are trying to defend a title. So that’s pressure that necessarily shouldn’t be on there, but it is.”

Payne again got a 2-0 lead before dropping the third game in the second set, then stretching out to a 4-1 edge. Simmons took advantage of some unforced errors by the junior from Jonesboro to win the next two games and pull within 4-3. Payne settled in for the final two games to take the win.